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THE SPELL OF BELGIUM 



THE SPELL SERIES 

99 

Each volume with one or more colored plates 
and many illustrations from original drawings 
or special photographs. Octavo, decorative 
cover, gilt top* 'boxed. 

Per volume, net $2.50; carriage paid $2.70 
By Isabel Anderson 

THE SPELL OF BELGIUM 

THE SPELL OF JAPAN 

THE SPELL OF THE HAWAIIAN 
ISLANDS AND THE PHILIPPINES 

By Caroline Atwater Mason 
THE SPELL OF ITALY 
THE SPELL OF SOUTHERN SHORES 
THE SPELL OF FRANCE 

By Archie Bell 
THE SPELL OF CHINA 
THE SPELL OF EGYPT 
THE SPELL OF THE HOLY LAND 

By Keith Clark 

THE SPELL OF SPAIN 
THE SPELL OF SCOTLAND 

By W. D. McCrackan 
THE SPELL OF TYROL 
THE SPELL OF THE ITALIAN LAKES 

By Edward Neville Vose 
THE SPELL OF FLANDERS 

By Burton - E. Stevenson 

THE SPELL OF HOLLAND 

By Julia DeW. Addison 

THE SPELL OF ENGLAND 

By Nathan Haskell Dole 
THE SPELL OF SWITZERLAND 

99 

THE PAGE COMPANY 

53 Beacon Street Boston, Mass. 




Spell §r 
Belgium 



fPiY 



Isabel . Anderson 

Author of " The Spell of Japan, " etc. 





.AS 



Copyright, 1915, by 
The Page Company 

All rights reserved 



First Impression, October, 1915 
Second Impression, January, 1916 
Third Impression, June, 1917 



Gift, frcm 
the Estate of Miss Ruth Putnam 
Sept.14,1931 



THE COLONIAL PRESS 
C. H. SIMONDS CO., BOSTON, U. S. A. 



-& 



*> 



DEDICATED 

WITH AFFECTION TO 
MY GODCHILD 

CHARLES PELHAM GREENOUGH 

MAY HE BE AS BRAVE AS 
THE BELGIANS 



FOREWORD 

Belgium has contributed generously to the 
world in the past. Much has been destroyed in 
this ruthless war, but much remains, for Bel- 
gium had much to give. How splendid are her 
unique guild-halls with their fretted towers, 
her massive mediaeval gates and quaint old 
houses bordering the winding canals! 

Through centuries, in one way or another, she 
has continued to hold the world's admiration. 
In olden times, when the clever weavers 
wrought historic scenes in their Flemish tapes- 
tries, they surely wove into the hearts of our 
forefathers the Spell of Belgium. In Belgium, 
the home of the violin, we have listened to the 
magic strains of the great masters and been 
charmed by the musical verses of Maeterlinck. 
There, too, we have gazed upon her inimitable 
Rubens and van Eycks. But today we stand 
spellbound before the Belgians themselves, the 
heroes of this war. 

The legends of Antwerp were written out by 
the eminent Flemish historian, Sleeckx, over 
fifty years ago, and were found in the library 



viii Foreword 



at Antwerp. This version has been translated 
directly from the Flemish, and is believed to 
be unknown to the world, outside of Antwerp 
literary circles. 

I wish to thank Her Excellency, Madame 
Havenith, wife of the Belgian Minister in the 
United States, for information, letters and 
photographs, and Mrs. Abbot L. Dow, whose 
father, General Sanford, was one of the most 
popular American Ministers ever in Belgium, 
as well as Miss Helen North, who lived for 
many years in that beautiful country. I wish, 
also, to thank the National Magazine for the use 
of a portion of the chapter on Motoring in 
Flanders. My thanks are due to Miss Gilman 
and Miss Crosby, too, for their kind assistance. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTBB PAGE 

Foreword vii 

I. The New Post 1 

II. Diplomatic Life 20 

III. Brussels Before the War 43 

IV. In Days of Knight and Villain . ... 65 
V. Battling for a Kingdom 86 

VI. Belgian Kings 106 

VII. Politics and Plural Voting 126 

VIII. Belgium's Workshops 138 

IX. Tapestries 158 

X. Primitives and Later Painters .... 178 

XI. La Jeune Belgique in Letters .... 207 

XII. Motoring in Flanders ....... 230 

XIII. Legends of Antwerp 255 

XIV. In the Walloon Country 331 

XV. A Last Word 356 

I Synopsis of the War 356 

II Letters from the Front .... 369 

III American Relief Work .... 411 

Bibliography 429 

Index 431 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

Grande Place and Belfry, Furnes (in full colour) Frontis- 
piece. (See page 2^9). 

MAP OF BELGIUM 1 

The Royal Palace, Brussels 3 

Burgomaster Max 8 

American Legation, Brussels 20 

Library, American Legation, Brussels . . .23 
Marie Jose, the Little Princess .... 25 

Comtesse de Flandre 28 

Palais d'Ursel 32 

M. Carton deWiart, Minister of Justtge ... 35 
A Flemish Kermesse (in full colour) .... 49 

Ysaye 53 

Hougomont 63 

Comte de Flandre, Second Son of King Albert . . 70 

Ancient Bourse, Antwerp 94 

Theatre de la Monnaie, Brussels .... 106 

Leopold I 108 

Leopold II 112 

King Albert 119 

Queen Elizabeth 122 

Baron de Broqueville 137 

An Old Lacemaker (in full colour) .... 143 

Brussels Point Lace 146 

"Since the War Began, Dogs have been of Great 
Service in Dragging the Mitrailleuses" . 154 

Diana Tapestry 173 

David and Goliath Tapestry 176 

"L'homme a l' QEuillet." — van Eyck .... 185 
xi 



List of Illustrations 



St. Luke Painting the Madonna. — van der Wey- 

den 189 

Portrait of a Man and His Wife. — Rubens . 197 

Charles I and His Family. — van Dyck . . . 201 

Maurice Maeterlinck 214 

Emile Verhaeren 224 

Corner of the Courtyard, Plantyn-MoretusMusem, 

Antwerp 234 

Lac d'Amour, Bruges 23S 

Count Egmont's Tower, Herzele .... 247 
Sand Dunes, Nieuport (in full colour) . . . 248 
Cloth Hall, Ypres, after Bombardment . . 253 

Spire of the Cathedral, Antwerp .... 262 

Cathedral, Antwerp 26S 

Interior of an old House, Antwerp .... 298 
Well of Quentin Matsys, Antwerp . . .313 

A Village in the Ardennes (in full colour) . . 332 

Prince Henri de Croy 339 

General View of Liege 342 

Chateau de Waulsort on the Meuse (in full colour) . 346 

Rock of Bayard, Dinant 34S 

Old Houses on the Sambre, Namur .... 354 

Citadel, Namur (in full colour) 363 

Nieuport (in full colour) 367 

Cardinal Mercier 370 

The Belgian Army 380 

Belgian Refugees 385 

The Chateau of Ardenne 393 

Crown Prince Leopold, Due de Brabant . . 39o 

The Belgian Army at La Panne 402 

The Harpalyce 421 

Madame Vandervelde 424 



THE 

SPELL OF BELGIUM 



CHAPTER I 

THE NEW POST 

!>HE winter which I spent in Belgium 
proved a unique niche in my experi- 
ence, for it showed me the daily life and 
characteristics of a people of an old civilization 
as I could never have known them from casual 
meetings in the course of ordinary travel. 

My husband first heard of his nomination as 
Minister to Belgium over the telephone. We 
were at Beverly, which was the summer capital 
that year, when he was told that his name was 
on the list sent from Washington. Although 
he had been talked of for the position, still in 
a way his appointment came as a surprise, and 
a very pleasant one, too, for we had been as- 
sured that " Little Paris" was an attractive 
post, and that Belgium was especially interest- 
1 



The Spell of Belgium 



ing to diplomats on account of its being the 
cockpit of Europe. After receiving this first 
notification, L. called at the " Summer White 
House' ' in Beverly, and later went to Washing- 
ton for instructions. It was not long before 
we were on our way to the new post. 

Through a cousin of my husband's who had 
married a Belgian, the Comte de Buisseret, we 
were able to secure a very nice house in Brus- 
sels, the Palais d'Assche. As it was being 
done over by the owners, I remained in Paris 
during the autumn, waiting until the work 
should be finished. My husband, of course, 
went directly to Brussels, and through his let- 
ters I was able to gain some idea of what our 
life there was to be. He lived for the time be- 
ing in the Legation which had been rented by 
the former Minister. Through another cousin, 
who had been American Minister there a few 
years before, he secured much valuable informa- 
tion regarding his new mission. I say new, be- 
cause he had been in the Service for twelve 
years before this — at first, as Second Secretary 
of Legation and afterward of Embassy in Lon- 
don; then as First Secretary of Embassy and 
Charge d 'Affaires in Rome. 

The royal family had not returned to town, so 
he was compelled to wait for an opportunity to 





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The New Post 



present his credentials. Finally, however, he 
received a notification that the King of the Bel- 
gians would grant him a special audience at 
eleven o'clock on the eighteenth of November. 

The ceremonial proved to be most interesting, 
everything perfectly done and very impressive. 
Two state carriages of gala, accompanied by 
outriders, came to the Legation a few minutes 
before eleven, bringing Colonel Derouette, com- 
manding officer of the Grenadiers, who was met 
at the door by the Secretary of Legation, Mr. 
Grant-Smith. L. was escorted to the great 
state coach, " which swung on its springs like a 
channel-crossing steamer." 

The steps were folded up, the door closed, the 
footmen jumped up behind, and the little pro- 
cession of prancing horses in gorgeous harness, 
with two outriders on high-steppers, proceeded. 
Following this carriage — which, by the way, 
was elaborately decorated and gilded, and had 
lamps at all four corners — came the second 
state carriage with the Secretary and the Mili- 
tary Attache. 

Passing through the broad, clean streets of 
the city, they soon entered the wide square be- 
fore the palace. This building, which is almost 
entirely new within the last few years, stood 
behind parterres of sunken gardens, beyond 



The Spell of Belgium 



a broad place, with the old park opposite, 
through which there was a vista with the 
House of Parliament at the other end. 

The guard of carabineers was turned out as 
the procession passed, and their bugles sounded 
the salute. The state carriages continued on 
through the fast-gathering crowd, crossed the 
sunken garden, and entered the porte-cochere 
of the palace, where a group of officials stood 
at attention. L. was escorted up to the en- 
trance and into the great gallery, where were 
the major-domo and a line of footmen in royal 
red livery. 

At the foot of the grand staircase stood two 
officers in full uniform, one wearing the delight- 
fully old-fashioned, short green embroidered 
jacket and the cherry-coloured trousers of the 
smart Guides Regiment. When they had been 
presented, they turned and led the way up the 
great staircase. At the top another aide of the 
King, Baron de Moor, a strikingly handsome 
man who looked stunning in his uniform and 
decorations, met them. Then in continued 
procession they passed through great rooms, 
which were simple yet splendidly palatial in 
style, with fine paintings and frescos, but with 
little furniture. 

Finally L, came to a room where the King's 



The New Post 



Master of Ceremonies, Comte Jean de Merode, 
came forward, and was presented. He disap- 
peared through a door, saying that he would go 
and take the King's orders, and returned im- 
mediately with the word that His Majesty was 
ready. 

"The doors were opened a double battant 
by servants standing at each side," L. wrote 
in his letter describing the audience; "I was 
rather taken by surprise, for the room into 
which I was being ushered was a vast apart- 
ment, and not like the small state rooms in 
which on previous occasions I had been intro- 
duced for reception by royalty. The officials 
took their positions at a distance, in a semi-cir- 
cle, so that any conversation could have been 
entirely confidential. I advanced, making my 
three bows. 

"The King is a tall, fine, clean-looking man. 
He was dressed in simple military uniform, 
wearing but one star. - ' 

L. expressed his appreciation for the grant- 
ing of the audience and the opportunity it gave 
of presenting his letters of credence, as well as 
his predecessor's letters of recall, and of con- 
veying a message of greeting from the Presi- 
dent of the United States with assurances of 
the sympathetic interest of the American peo- 



The Spell of Belgium 



pie in Belgium's progress. When the King had 
received the letters and handed them to a gen- 
tleman-in-waiting, he conversed with my hus- 
band in a very low tone, speaking of his visit of 
fifteen years ago in America, and of his admira- 
tion for the American people and for their great 
advances in matters of science and hygiene, 
especially of the successful sanitary work which 
we had accomplished in Panama. 

They talked of the house which we had taken, 
and the King said that he had lived in it for 
nine years, and that all of his children had been 
born there. He expressed his admiration for 
President Taft, and said that he very fre- 
quently read his speeches and wished to send 
a message in return in acknowledgment of the 
President's greetings. 

When the King indicated that the audience 
was over, the party bowed itself backward out 
of the room, and the procession re-formed in 
the next salon. L. had been notified that im- 
mediately after his audience with the King he 
would be received by Her Majesty the Queen. 
So the procession passed in similar order 
through a series of salons and corridors, the 
different gentlemen leaving him at the points 
where they had met him on his entry, their 
places being taken by others of the Queen's 



The New Post 



entourage. So they came to a smaller but still 
handsome suite of apartments, where the 
Queen's Master of Ceremonies met them. He 
also disappeared through a door to take Her 
Majesty's orders, and returned to say that my 
husband was to be received at once. As the 
room was not so large as that in which the King 
had received him, the approach to the Queen 
was easier. 

"The Queen is petite and charming,' ' he 
wrote me; "from what those who escorted me 
said, she is looking very much stronger than she 
has since a recent serious illness. They all 
seem to be delighted at her recovery. She is 
exceedingly sweet and gracious, and speaks 
with a little manner of shyness. She was very 
simply dressed in what I should call a rose chif- 
fon with a little scarf of black and white chiffon 
over her shoulders. (I hear she is very fond 
of pretty clothes.) She asked about the Presi- 
dent, and I told her of his health and activities, 
and of his trip through the states. Her 
Majesty also spoke of the Palais d'Assche and 
of their life in it, asked after you, Isabel, and 
spoke of my cousin, Caroline de Buisseret. I 
tried as best I could to answer her gentle in- 
quiries." 

During the afternoon L. and his secretary 



The Spell of Belgium 



made visits on the court officials and the chief 
members of the Government, leaving cards on 
the Queen's ladies-in-waiting and grand-mis- 
tresses and on the members of the Cabinet, as 
well as on the Governor of Brabant, and on 
Burgomaster Max. He was received by the 
Papal Nuncio, the Doyen of the Diplomatic 
Corps, with much ceremony, and found him to 
be a typical, good-looking priest. 

Burgomaster Max has had an interesting 
career since we met him in Brussels. Before 
his day there were two famous burgomasters 
who had served their city with special distinc- 
tion. The first was Chevalier de Locquenghieu 
who, in 1477, had the Willebroeck Canal built, 
through which the Prince of Orange made his 
entry into town. The second was Baron de 
Perch, who was chosen seven times to serve as 
burgomaster when the glory of Brussels was 
at its height, early in the seventeenth century. 
By their side today stands a third — Monsieur 
Adolphe Max. 

When the German army was approaching the 
city it was he who discussed the situation with 
the American Minister, Mr. Brand Whitlock, 
and with the Spanish Minister, Marquis Villa- 
loba, as the King and his Cabinet had already 
removed to Antwerp. They all agreed that, 



/ 




BURGOMASTER MAX. 



The New Post 



with the troops available, the city could only 
hold out for a short time against the Germans, 
that many lives would be sacrificed, and art 
treasures and historic buildings destroyed. 
Brussels must surrender. 

Soon after entering the city the German gen- 
eral sent for Max. When he came into the 
room the general pulled out a revolver and 
thumped it down on the table. Looking him 
straight in the eye, the burgomaster pulled out 
a pen and thumped that down on the table beside 
the general's weapon. The challenge of the pen 
and the gun — which, I wonder, will prove 
stronger in the end? 

Under the Germans the life of the city con- 
tinued peacefully, although somewhat changed. 
The new rulers issued paper money for war 
currency. The citizens were expected to pay 
their tradesmen with it, and were assured that 
it was "just as good as gold." But when 
Burgomaster Max offered it to the German 
general as payment of the huge indemnity re- 
quired of Brussels it was refused, and gold de- 
manded instead. Max later had trouble with 
the authorities, and as he had made several 
speeches to the populace he was sent to a prison 
in Germany. The last I heard of him he was 
still there. 



10 The Spell of Belgium 

Not long after my husband's presentation at 
Court came the King's name-day, an occasion 
for fetes and gala. The streets were gay with 
marching soldiers and people in their best 
clothes. There was a Te Deum at the church 
of St. Gudule, and of course the Diplomatic 
Corps went in full dress uniform to do honour 
to the King. Their carriages joined in the 
procession, while the cavalry deployed about 
and escorted the state officials. At the church 
doors officers received the arrivals, and as each 
Minister passed inside the portal the orders 
rang out in the quiet church. There was a 
clank of arms as a guard of honour, standing 
on each side of the transept aisle, came to 
"present arms," and a ruffle of drums. 

When the Queen came — the King did not at- 
tend — she was met by the Papal Nuncio and 
prelates and escorted by priests, while the band 
played a solemn march with slow beat of drums. 
So she passed up into the chancel, bowing to the 
altar and to the diplomats and the Ministers 
of State. Then she passed beneath the balda- 
chino with the King's mother, the Comtesse de 
Flandre, and the little Crown Prince, the Due 
de Brabant, who was all in white. About them 
knelt the gentlemen- and ladies-in-waiting. 

The priests intoned before the altar, and the 



The New Post 11 

music took up the beautiful and impressive 
service, part of which dates back eight hundred 
years. High at one end a choir and orchestra 
were in a gallery, and joined the great organ in 
rilling the vaults with lovely harmonies as the 
mass proceeded, while the scent of incense rose 
through the soft haze of the interior to the fa- 
mous stained-glass windows above. 

The Queen sat beneath her canopy at the side 
of the high altar with her little court surround- 
ing her, the diplomats in their full regalia were 
in a group at one side, the Ministers of State in 
their uniforms in a group at the other, with the 
judges of the court in their scarlet robes which 
made bright splashes of colour. The military 
music resounded in slow marches and re-echoed 
through the spaces where candles only dimly 
lighted the shadows. 

When they came out of church they noticed 
above them, floating in the sky, a great dirigible 
balloon, maneuvering majestically over the city, 
silent and impressive. How little did they 
think that similar balloons would so soon be 
dropping bombs upon their peaceful country! 

That evening the Minister of Foreign Affairs 
gave a gala dinner in honour of the King's fete- 
day, and all the Chiefs of Mission and some 
of the court dignitaries attended. Madame 



12 The Spell of Belgium 

Davignon, wife of the Minister, a handsome and 
distinguished woman, received with His Ex- 
cellency. The gathering was impressive, and 
the diplomatic uniforms were rich with gold 
lace and decorations. Madame Davignon pre- 
sided at this dinner of men only, the Minister 
sitting opposite her at the U-shaped table. 
Some plenipotentiaries were accredited to 
Paris as well as to Brussels, and came on for 
special functions. Although these were mostly 
South Americans, they were very fine in their re- 
galia, as were also the Turks in their fezzes and 
the Persians in their astrakhan hats. After 
dinner there was a real "recivimento," when 
distinguished people came in to pay their re- 
spects to the Minister of Foreign Affairs with- 
out invitation, as used to be the custom in 
Rome. 

A few days after that L. made up a little 
party and ran out to Termeire, the de Buisseret 
chateau. The motor trip took about an hour 
and a half, the car running smoothly and swiftly 
between villages and jiggling over the famous 
Belgian blocks that pave the towns. The coun- 
try was like France, with the ditches on either 
side of the road and the rows of trees, and like 
Holland, too, with its canals. About the cha- 
teau there was an extensive park with game, 



The New Post 13 

where they hunted in the autumn, and etangs 
and bridges and fine old trees. 1 

After luncheon they visited the lovely chateau 
of the Due d 'Ursel, where they met the Duchess, 
who has been in Paris since the war began, hav- 
ing established there the Franco-American 
CEuvre des Soldats Beiges. They also met the 
charming, old-world Duchess Dowager. From 
there they ran along the banks of the Scheldt 
to the Pavilion, a most interesting little build- 
ing, both in architecture and decoration. 

It may be that there were more chateaux in 
the south, in the Walloon provinces, but Flan- 
ders was by no means lacking in fine old houses. 
Melis, the Edmond de Beughems , place, was 
quite enchanting. A long avenue of deep trees 
brought one to a stone gateway with the family 
arms sculptured above it, and fortified walled 
buildings stretching away on either side. 
Crossing a garden and a moat, one came to the 
entrance of the quaintest little old chateau im- 
aginable. 

On one side its gray walls dipped straight 
down into the moat, while on the other were 

iThe story of the de Buisseret misfortunes since the war 
began has been a sad one, like that of many of the Belgian 
aristocracy. Their chateau, which we visited so often, has 
been destroyed, Madame de Buisseret has died, and the chil- 
dren are scattered. 



14 The Spell of Belgium 

green lawns and bright-coloured gardens, with 
splendid overhanging trees and a still lagoon 
with white floating swans. Beyond the deep, 
protecting waters were the forests of the park, 
with long alleys leading the eye to far-away vis- 
tas. 

From the bridge above the moat one passed 
beneath the old portcullis and the bastion with 
its loopholes into a little lop-sided courtyard. 
Here the walls were all pinkish and yellow, the 
old brickwork breaking through the ochre plas- 
ter placed on it in a different generation and 
overgrown with ivies and climbing roses. In- 
doors the rooms were low and tiny and filled 
with old-fashioned furniture. 

Melis was not a great and battlemented 
fortress, but a small and homelike place, so 
miniature that it seemed as if one might put it 
in a pocket. No doubt it really was, as the 
family admitted, very cold and damp and un- 
comfortable, but on a warm sunny day it ap- 
peared quite one's ideal of what a chateau in 
Flanders ought to be. 

While I was still staying quietly in Paris, I 
found much pleasure in reading about the his- 
toric old city which I was so soon to see. 

Its legends attracted me especially. There 
was one, for instance, about Guy, the poor man 



The New Post 15 

of AnderlecM. His parents were serfs, and he 
began his career as a labourer in the fields of a 
nobleman who lived near the castle of Brussels. 
It happened one day that Guy's fellow-workmen 
complained to their master, who provided them 
all with their midday meals, that Guy always 
took part of his share of the food home to his 
parents and consequently was late in beginning 
the afternoon work. The master was very in- 
dignant and went to the fields himself the next 
day to see if it were true, and to thrash the 
young man soundly if he did not return on time. 
Sure enough, when the moment came to begin 
work again, Guy failed to appear. But — in his 
place at the plow stood an angel! 

It was said that the devil never tried but once 
to tempt Guy. That was when a rich Brussels 
merchant entered into partnership with him, 
promising to make his fortune. On his first 
journey down the river Senne after this his boat 
ran upon a sand-bank. "When Guy seized a pole 
to push off, his fingers became fastened to it and 
he could not release them till he had made a 
solemn vow that he would give up forever the 
search for wealth. Even during his lifetime 
he was regarded as a saint, and pilgrims fell 
on their knees before him. When he lay dying 
it was said that a heavenly light filled the room. 



16 The Spell of Belgium 

The oldest church in Brussels, where he used 
to pray as a child, was afterwards dedicated to 
him, its name being changed from St. Peter to 
St. Peter and St. Guy. 

It is Michael the Archangel, however, and 
not Guy, who is the patron saint of Brussels. 
A statue representing him with his foot upon a 
dragon was placed on the spire of the Hotel de 
Ville by Philip the Good about 1450, and has 
stood there resplendent ever since. He sur- 
vived even the religious wars of the sixteenth 
century, although the mob did not look upon 
him with a very indulgent eye. 

The castle of Brussels, mentioned in connec- 
tion with the legend of Guy of Anderlecht, was 
doubtless that built by Duke Charles of Lor- 
raine, the grandson of Charlemagne, in 981. 
It stood on an island in the river, next to the 
church of St. Gery, and is supposed to have been 
the first dwelling in this region. The city's 
name, "Bruk Sel," means the " manor in the 
marsh." One of Duke Charles's daughters 
married Count Lambert of Lorraine, who built 
a wall about the little town to keep out robber 
knights. Seven noble families, of whom the 
de Lignes show quarterings today, built houses 
of stone near the seven gates, which were 
guarded by their retainers. For that reason 



The New Post 17 

seven is considered Brussels ' lucky number. 

During the next two centuries many knights 
left Brussels for the crusades. Few people 
know that it was a little Belgian page, named 
Blondel, who sang "A Hon Koi" outside 
Eichard Cceur de Lion's window when he was 
taken prisoner at this time. Under the weak 
hand of Count Godfrey the Bearded, in the 
twelfth century, the citizens of the town seized 
the opportunity to establish for themselves a 
position midway between the serfs and the 
nobles. In the following century they won still 
more privileges — or rather, bought them — of 
their duke, John the First, who needed money to 
carry on his wars. When he was killed in 
battle his successor found the townspeople were 
becoming too powerful for his liking, and did 
what he could to keep them in hand. 

This city on the Senne first sprang into im- 
portance about the year 1200, when the great 
highroad was built from Bruges to Cologne, 
making Brussels a station on the busy trade 
route. The town gradually spread on to the 
surrounding hills. When the population was 
about fifty thousand, in the fourteenth century, 
the weaving industry was started. The counts 
of Louvain made their homes there, and the 
dukes of Burgundy, who united Flanders and 



18 The Spell of Belgium 

Brabant, frequently held their courts there in 
the century following. During the reign of 
these powerful dukes the city became so pros- 
perous that it was outranked only by Ghent and 
Bruges. 

Andreas Vesalius, a native of Brussels, born 
in 1515, deserves mention, as his name stands 
out in the scientific history of the world. He 
is called the "Founder of Human Anatomy,' ' 
because of his discoveries. After studying at 
Louvain he became court physician to Charles 
V, and a distinguished professor and author. 
It is told how once when "Vesalius was dis- 
secting, with the consent of his kinsmen, the 
body of a Spanish grandee, it was observed that 
the heart still gave some feeble palpitations 
when divided by the knife. The immediate ef- 
fect of this outrage to human feelings was the 
denunciation of the anatomist to the Inquisition. 
Vesalius escaped the severe treatment of that 
tribunal only by the influence of the King, and 
by promising to perform a pilgrimage to the 
Holy Land." On this voyage he was ship- 
wrecked in the Ionian Sea, and was buried on 
the island of Zante. 

From the beginning of its history Brussels 
has been the center of much fierce fighting. 
Men — and women, too — have led their armies 



The New Post 19 

to its attack or defense, and many thousands 
have died about its walls. In 1695, Marshal 
Villeroi of France bombarded it, reducing the 
lower town to ashes. Less than forty years 
later Marshal Saxe repeated the performance. 
For all that it has continued to grow and pros- 
per. Under the Hapsburgs it was made the 
capital of the Low Countries, and in 1830 it 
was recognized as the capital of the new na- 
tion of Belgium. 

The last remains of its walls were removed 
by the late King, Leopold II, in his effort to 
make the city more sanitary. Besides this, he 
did much to modernize and beautify it as well. 
It became a model little capital, made up of many 
communes, forming in all a city about the size 
of Boston. The more I read about it, and the 
more I learned of the life there, the more eager 
I became to see it all for myself, and it was with 
joy that I finally received word that we could 
move into our new home. 



CHAPTER II 

DIPLOMATIC LIFE 

J>HE American Legation in Brussels was in 
the Quartier Leopold, on one of the 
many hills on which the city was built. 
It was owned by the Comte d'Assche, not by 
our Government, but it had been used as the 
American Legation when Mr. Bellamy Storer 
was Minister, and after we left it was also the 
Legation under Mr. Marburg. Mr. Brand 
Whitlock, the present Minister, however, took 
another house near by, I understand. 

The Palais d'Assche was one of the hand- 
somest legations in Brussels, having a park in 
front and a pretty garden behind. We moved 
into the Legation immediately after my arrival 
in Brussels, although the workmen were still in 
the house. I describe the Palais d'Assche be- 
cause it is so different from our American 
homes. 

Just within the passage leading to the court- 
yard, which was entered through an arch that 
could be closed with doors, and down a few 
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Diplomatic Life 21 

steps, were the rooms of the concierge and his 
wife. To the left of the passage were the 
offices and the grand staircase, to the right the 
private entrance and my husband's suite. At 
the head of the stairs leading to the second 
floor, and on the garden side, was the library, 
which was made homelike with our books, pic- 
tures and rugs. As this room had a huge fire- 
place and a big window, giving us all the light 
possible, it was really cheerful, and we spent 
most of our time in it ; in fact, we always dined 
here when we had no guests. I remember espe- 
cially these evenings alone when we put out the 
lights and enjoyed the moon shining through 
the great window, and listened to the church 
bell that echoed through the wide chimney. 

My bedroom and boudoir were also on this 
floor, and opened into one of the great salons. 
The bedroom, which had been the present 
Queen's sleeping room, was very large, and was 
hung in rose-coloured brocade. It contained a 
few superb pieces of carved furniture with 
brass trimmings and inlaid crowns. I had the 
comfort of an open fire in the boudoir ; indeed, 
I needed its cheeriness, for the sky was always 
gray, and we were forced to turn on the lights 
even early in the morning. 

On the garden side of the house was a long 



22 The Spell of Belgium 

gallery, into which the dining room broke in 
the center. The reception rooms were square 
with high ceilings and mostly finished in white 
and gold. The house had been partly done 
over by a French architect, and the interior 
decorations were very handsome. At one end 
of the palace, passing up over the legation 
offices, was the grand staircase, which was 
opened only on special occasions. The heating 
was very imperfect, according to American 
ideas, for although there was a furnace, the 
ceilings were so high that the heat made little 
impression. 

At the foot of the garden, behind the house, 
were the stables and the garage. From the 
porte-cochere the drive passed round both sides 
down to the stables, and in the center was a 
lawn with a screen of shrubbery. There were 
some handsome large trees, and several smaller 
ones that were trained upon trellises by the side 
walls, so that it promised to be a pleasant, shady 
place in the summer time. 

By dint of much hurry and rush the house 
was gotten in order for Christmas Day. The 
workmen were in their last entrenchments on 
the great stairs on the 23d, and then fortunately 
disappeared forever. Our few belongings were 
quickly put in place. The tapestries and pic- 




p 



o 






Diplomatic Life 23 

tures were hung in the salons, and at last the 
Christmas tree was lighted. 

In Belgium, very little is made of Christmas. 
Presents are given on St. Nicholas' Day, hut 
their real celebration is at New Year's. We did 
our best, however, to make it seem like a New 
England Christmas. As a part of our diplo- 
matic duties, we gave a reception for the Ameri- 
cans in Brussels. About seventy-five came, in- 
cluding every sort of person. L. and I received 
in the library, where the tree lighted up prettily, 
the music in the ballroom was good, and our 
guests danced and ate, and I think enjoyed 
themselves. 

We had our share of servant troubles at the 
Legation. At one time we were on the point of 
sending away our chef, but he wrote L. a 
little note saying that he felt he must leave us 
and permit a more " valiant one" to undertake 
our large household. As we had already tele- 
graphed to England for another, this was not 
so unfortunate as it might seem. 

At another time our concierge, whom we 
thought a model of good behaviour, "ran 
amuck,' ' and we had a series of scenes. He 
began to talk incoherently in the kitchen, and to 
complain because the automobiles went in and 
out so often, declaring that the chauffeurs were 



24 The Spell of Belgium 

in league against him. Then he appeared with 
his coat off and rushed about the house with a 
loaded revolver in each hand, challenging the 
men servants to fight. Later, as he would not 
come when summoned, my husband took him 
by the coat collar and put him out of the house. 
After he had been away three days and the pis- 
tols had been safely hidden, we decided, for 
various reasons, to give him another chance, 
and, curiously enough, his conduct was per- 
fect all winter. 

My first important duty was to call on the 
ladies in the diplomatic circle, and I went in 
company with Comtesse Clary, the wife of the 
Austrian Minister, who was the Doyenne of the 
Diplomatic Corps. I was indebted to the Com- 
tesse de Buisseret for many little points of 
etiquette that Europeans and diplomats are ex- 
tremely careful about, but which Americans 
often do not consider, such as sitting on the 
left of your carriage and putting your guest 
on the right. It is also polite of the hostess to 
ask a distinguished guest to sit on the sofa when 
calling, and the maneuvering for the proper seat 
is sometimes as complicated as the Japanese tea 
ceremony. A stranger, after speaking to the 
hostess, must ask almost at once to be intro- 
duced to the other guests. If they are Belgian 




MARIE JOSE, THE LITTLE PRINCESS. 



Diplomatic Life 25 

ladies, the newcomer is supposed to leave cards 
within forty-eight hours, and the task of finding 
the correct names and addresses is a great 
nuisance, for there are endless members of cer- 
tain well-known families. 

The King and Queen were very popular, even 
in those days, and both were young and good 
looking. They have three fine children, the two 
boys bearing the splendid historic titles of the 
Due de Brabant and the Comte de Flandre. 
The youngest of the three is the fascinating 
little Princess Marie Jose, who is idolized by 
the people. His Majesty is the nephew of the 
former King Leopold, and the Queen is the 
daughter of His Eoyal Highness, Charles The- 
odore, a Bavarian Grand Duke. King Albert, 
before he succeeded to the throne, had trav- 
eled in America, and he always had very 
pleasant things to say of his visit here. His 
town residence was the Winter Palace, now 
a hospital, which was not very far from the 
Legation; the Summer Palace at Laeken, oc- 
cupied of late by German officers, is about 
half an hour's distance from Brussels by mo- 
tor. 

My private audience with the Queen was 
granted within a week after my arrival in 
Brussels, I was told to wear a high-necked 



26 The Spell of Belgium 

gown with a short train, a hat and no veil — veils 
are not worn before royalty. Her Majesty re- 
ceived me standing, then asked me to sit on the 
sofa with her. I found her very pretty and 
sweet. I courtesied and waited for her to 
speak — as is customary — and then we talked 
upon different subjects for about twenty min- 
utes, until she closed the interview. 

Of the various functions at Court, the balls 
were the most brilliant. The women wore 
gowns with rather long trains, quantities of 
old lace, and superb jewels, and with the gor- 
geous Hungarian uniforms, the endless orders, 
and the varied coats of the Chinese, the scene 
was dazzling. According to the rank of one's 
husband, or according to the length of time he 
had been in Brussels as Minister, the wives took 
their places in the " circle" which was formed 
in the " Salon Bleu," a room for "Serene High- 
nesses" and diplomats. The King and Queen 
made a tour of the apartment, speaking to the 
ladies on one side, the men on the other, as they 
do at most court functions. As each person 
courtesied to Their Majesties, it was a pretty 
sight to see the courtesies follow them down the 
line like a slow-moving wave. 

After this, all the members of the Diplomatic 
Corps who had any of their compatriots to pre- 



Diplomatic Life 27 

sent, formed another circle in an adjoining 
room, where again the King and Queen passed 
down the line, and each one of us made our 
presentations. Then the royal party and the 
diplomats passed in procession through the 
dense throng, crossing the ballroom, a great 
white and gold hall, to seats on a little raised 
dai's to the right of the throne chairs, where 
the diplomats watched the dancing, while to the 
left the Ministers of State gathered with their 
wives. During the evening there were re- 
peated processions headed by the King and 
Queen, in which the Diplomatic Corps joined, 
first to a winter garden, where tea and simple 
things were served, then to a supper room all 
marble and glass, where the table was mag- 
nificent with the famous old gold service. 
After our return to the ballroom there was 
more dancing. Finally the King and Queen 
withdrew, and then the guests were at liberty to 
go home. 

The royal dinner given for us at the Winter 
Palace was delightful. In Belgium every En- 
voy used to receive the honour of a dinner, at 
which the King took in the Minister's wife on 
his arm, and the Minister escorted the Queen. 
Their Majesties sat together in the center of 
the table, the Minister on the right of the Queen, 



28 The Spell of Belgium 

the Minister's wife on the left of the King. At 
each Court I believe the custom is a little differ- 
ent. In Italy they give a retiring Ambassador 
a dinner; in Germany the diplomats are all 
asked together at one dinner; in Russia the 
Czar does not eat in the same room with the 
foreign diplomats and the Ministers, I am told ; 
and in Japan they give a luncheon, where you 
are placed at the same table with Their Majes- 
ties, but members of the Diplomatic Corps do 
not sit next to the Emperor or Empress, who 
have on either side of them some member of 
the royal family. 

One of the pleasantest occasions of the win- 
ter was our reception and dinner with the Com- 
tesse de Flandre, the mother of the King. We 
passed up the great staircase with the red car- 
pets, lined with footmen in red coats and knee 
breeches and wearing their many medals, just 
as at the King's palace. At the door the 
Grand Maitre and the lady-in-waiting received 
the guests in a small room of white and gold, 
with portraits of the royal family on the walls. 
The doors were opened and the Countess en- 
tered, and spoke to each person. She was 
elderly and dressed in black, and had a very 
pleasant, attractive face. The guests, who 
numbered about forty, included the Spanish, 




COilTESSE DE FLAXDRE. 



Diplomatic Life 29 

French, English and American representatives. 
At table, the Grand Maitre sat opposite Her 
Eoyal Highness, the diplomats had the high 
seats, and the others down the table were Bel- 
gians of different degrees of distinction. We 
returned to the reception room at the close of 
the dinner, and the Conntess asked us all to be 
seated, and sat first with one group and then 
with another. 

Her death occurred, very suddenly, the fol- 
lowing autumn, just before our departure for 
Japan. For court mourning I was obliged to 
buy a crepe bonnet, such as was worn for a long 
period by all the diplomats ' wives and many of 
the Belgian ladies. 

But for the Duke of Fife they wore black for 
only four days. Mourning for the Duke of 
Luxembourg was for twenty-one days, the first 
ten days in black, after that in black and white. 
Teas and dinners, however, went on just the 
same. 

The funeral of the Countess was most impos- 
ing. I watched the procession from a house on 
the route, but L. went to St. Gudule with the 
rest of the Diplomatic Corps. Lines of soldiers 
guarded the streets as the procession, headed 
by the Garde Civique, passed along in the pour- 
ing rain. Following the Garde were troops of 



30 The Spell of Belgium 

cavalry on fine horses, a military band, and 
a number of ecclesiastics and church dignitaries. 
The catafalque was borne on a great black and 
gold car, drawn by eight black horses decorated 
with plumes, and laden with magnificent wreaths 
of flowers. The King walked solemnly behind 
the funeral car, the Crown Prince of Germany 
on his right, and the Crown Prince of Roumania 
on his left, with several other lesser royalties 
following in their train. After these came the 
special Ambassadors, the Cabinet, Senators and 
others, in great carriages draped in black, with 
coachmen and standing footmen in mourning 
liveries. (The only touch of colour was the 
brilliant red robes of the Justices as they en- 
tered the church.) When the service was over, 
the whole funeral train was conveyed in car- 
riages to the chapel at Laeken, near the Sum- 
mer Palace. 

The Comtesse de Flandre had been very 
popular and was greatly missed. She was a 
kindly and much beloved old lady, and was 
certainly very active in society, going about 
everywhere, giving dinners and opening 
bazars. She showed especial favour to artists 
and musicians, and was herself a talented 
musician and etcher of landscapes. 

Another ceremony that we saw at St. Gu- 



Diplomatic Life 31 

dule's occurred after the death of the little 
daughter of one of the Ministers of State, when 
L. and I attended the Angels' Mass, which was 
celebrated in this old church. There was a 
great crowd in black, and the music in the im- 
mense vault with its solemn, stained-glass win- 
dows was most impressive. As the mass pro- 
ceeded, all the men in the audience crowded up 
towards the altar, and lighted candles were 
handed them in turn as they formed in proces- 
sion and passed before the catafalque, the Cath- 
olics kissing the patten, and others bowing to it, 
and then passing in review before the bereaved 
family, who sat to one side. This, I believe, 
was for the purpose of showing the mourners 
who had attended the ceremony, but, as some 
one complained, women were not allowed any 
credit for being present. The custom of hold- 
ing the candles near the face, no doubt, was a 
relic of the days when the churches were so dark 
that it was only in this manner that people could 
be recognized. I believe it was also a common 
practice of old to drop an oblation in the plate 
as one passed. 

To return to more cheerful subjects, we had 
the honour of dining with the Duchesse d'Ursel 
one evening. The d'Ursels, the de Lignes, and 
the de Merodes (Comtesse de Merode, we hear, 



32 The Spell of Belgium 

was arrested during the war, as she was the 
bearer of important papers) are some of the 
great names in Belgium, counting, as they do, 
one thousand years of "lignage." Several 
members of the d'Ursel family lived in the same 
house. The Duchess Dowager received at the 
end of one wing, and the younger Duchess 
in her salon at the end of another, while the 
Comtesse Wolfgang d'Ursel was at home in 
still a third. So one made a series of visits 
without going out of the main door — quite a 
hospitable way of entertaining one's friends. 
The old Palais d'Ursel remained alone in that 
part of the city which was being rebuilt with 
great government structures — for King Leo- 
pold promised the old Duke that his historic 
residence should be allowed to stand, even if 
the other buildings around it had to be torn 
down. It is long and low-lying, and mediaeval 
in appearance. The dimly lighted rooms, 
with their old tapestries and quaint pieces of 
antique furniture, were of another age, digni- 
fied and quiet. Here we met such old-world 
looking people — the men with Roman noses and 
waxed mustachios and elegant manners. The 
Duchess' second son was Comte Wolfgang 
d'Ursel, a name that suggests the Middle Ages 
and a great heroic figure, although in reality he 



Diplomatic Life 33 

was a small man. I regret to add that he has 
been killed in the war. 

Onr dinner with Prince Charles de Ligne was 
also enjoyable. No family of the Belgian no- 
bility has a prouder record than this. To name 
only a part of their titles, they were barons be- 
fore the year 1100 ; they have been marshals and 
grand seneschals of Hainault since 1350 ; counts 
of the Empire and hereditary constables of 
Flanders since the sixteenth century; and were 
made princes of the Spanish Netherlands in the 
seventeenth; while "the glorious order of the 
Golden Fleece,' ' says Poplimont, in his "Her- 
aldry,'' "has been from its creation an appen- 
dage absolute, so to speak, of the house of 
Ligne. ' ' 

Although the palace was so stately, and the 
doorkeeper wore a decoration on his livery, and 
the footmen were in maroon and shorts, with 
showy little gold shoulder-knots, the dinner was 
simple and well done, and so like one at home 
that it was really delightful. We passed up the 
fine staircase, with the balcony opening above 
and the plants as in a winter garden, and 
through salons in which chairs were arranged 
in the formal way that they affect abroad. The 
Prince and the Princess received us cordially, 
and, after dinner, we went into a small fumoir 



34 The Spell of Belgium 

in which were hung tapestries that had been in 
the family for four centuries. 

We were taken one day by the Princesse de 
Ligne to visit the palace of the d'Arenbergs in 
Brussels, which was the finest in the city next 
to the King's. The great staircase was the 
most beautiful that I have ever seen — in its pro- 
portions and in the splendour of its marbles. 
The rooms were palatial, and there were so 
many wonderful tapestries and famous pic- 
tures! We saw the suite with a private en- 
trance for royalties, where the Kaiser's son 
Adelbert had been a guest a few days before. 
Notwithstanding all this glory the bathrooms 
had tubs for which the water had to be heated 
by gas in a stove. The old wing of the palace, 
which had belonged to Count Egmont in the six- 
teenth century, was burned some time ago, and 
many of his possessions were destroyed, notably 
the desk at which he wrote. The Duchesse 
d'Arenberg is the daughter of the Princesse de 
Ligne. The Duke is a German, and I have been 
told that before the war he removed all their 
superb collection to Germany. It is reported 
that extraordinary things went on beneath that 
roof previous to the invasion. 

Among the old nobility of Belgium is a mem- 
ber called Comte Vilain XIIII. There is a curi- 




M. CARTON DE WIART, MINISTER OF JUSTICE. 



Diplomatic Life 35 

ous tradition in regard to the origin of this title. 
When Louis XIV was in Belgium, during 
his Flemish campaign, it was discovered one 
evening that there were but thirteen to sit down 
at his table. The King was too superstitious 
to allow this, so sent out an aide to find some one 
to make the fourteenth. Of course only noble- 
men sat at the King's table, but as the aide was 
unable to find any one of suitable rank he 
brought in a wayfarer, or villain. The King at 
once ennobled him, calling him Comte Vilain 
XIIII, and the title is still written in this way. 

Of the many " official " dinners that we at- 
tended one was with the Minister of the In- 
terior, M. Berryer, who is a brilliant man. We 
also dined with Minister of State Beernaert, 
one of the wonderful old men of Europe, eighty- 
three years old when we were there, but quite 
alert and still an able statesman. 

Another dinner was given for us by M. Car- 
ton de Wiart, the Minister of Justice, and a 
writer of much ability. He was a member of 
the commission that came over here from Bel- 
gium in the autumn of 1914. This dinner was 
rather different from others that we had at- 
tended, for it was made up of the deputies. It 
was quite interesting to meet this entirely dif- 
ferent class of men, whom I found to be very in- 



36 The Spell of Belgium 

telligent. Among the guests was a nice old man, 
whom all the deputies of the Right called 
"Uncle." There were also dinners, of course, 
with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and other 
officials, as well as the diplomats, all of which 
I remember with pleasure. 

The reception to the foreign ministers at a 
quarter-past ten New Year's morning was post- 
poned on account of the King's indisposition. 
So L. went off to write in the King's and the 
Queen's books, which had to be protected by the 
crimson-liveried servants against the throng of 
people who were struggling to reach them. 

Among other functions the balls at the l i Con- 
cert Noble" were very enjoyable; the music was 
good, and the vast assembly room was hand- 
some and not crowded. The lofty suite of 
salons made an effective setting for the dancing. 
One night when we were there, the entrance was 
lined with men in gold and black, and the King 
and Queen came in, followed by gentlemen-in- 
waiting. They took their seats upon a raised 
dai's, after walking through the rooms, and 
watched the dancing for a time. When supper 
was ready everybody stood about, and the King 
and Queen talked with different people. 

The life of the American Minister in Brussels, 
even in time of peace, was by no means all a 



Diplomatic Life 37 

round of social gaieties. While nothing of the 
greatest or most pressing importance came up 
in our relations with Belgium, yet there were 
questions of commerce and questions of policy 
to be kept constantly in mind, and reports to be 
made from time to time to the home Govern- 
ment, not to speak of countless interruptions 
from Americans who, for one reason or another, 
were in need of the kind offices of their repre- 
sentative. For instance, according to Belgian 
law, vagabonds without money, but who might 
be absolutely innocent of crime, could be sent to 
the workhouse for two years, and sometimes 
American sailors landing at Antwerp would be 
left there without a cent. Our kind-hearted 
Consul General used his influence to have them 
set free; but then what was to be done with 
them? 

Among our countrymen who came to the Le- 
gation, however, were many welcome visitors 
and not a few whom we had met in far distant 
parts of the world. There was Governor Pack, 
of the mountain province in the Philippines. 
The last time L. had seen him, he was ruling 
supreme among the head-hunting Igorrotes at 
Bontoc. "With a small handful of brave and re- 
sourceful men as lieutenants, he had in a few 
years brought those extraordinary aborigines 



38 The Spell of Belgium 

into such willing subjection that their loyalty 
to the American was really devotion. He had 
been visiting the families of that company of 
wonderful Belgian priests who were doing so 
much good in his far-away mountain home — 
sons of rich parents, who had taken up the work 
in a spirit of pure self-sacrifice. 

It is a curious thing that the men of affairs 
in Belgium — often some of the Ministers of 
State and the captains of industry — who were 
broad, up-to-date men, forceful and interesting, 
one seldom met socially. Even some of the 
King's entourage could not join the Cercle du 
Pare, the most exclusive club in Brussels. 

I had a reception day every Tuesday, begin- 
ning in January, besides which there were vari- 
ous times at which we received diplomats 
and titled Belgians by themselves. One of the 
most interesting figures was the Papal Nuncio, 
who came in his robes, with magenta cape and 
cap and gloves, wearing his ring outside. The 
concierge and a chauffeur waved his motor un- 
der the porte-cochere ; two servants opened the 
doors a double battant; and L. met him and es- 
corted him upstairs, where we had tea and 
cakes. 

On Washington's birthday we had another 
reception for Americans. The chancery was 



Diplomatic Life 39 

closed, the Stars and Stripes waved in all their 
glory over the door, and flowers were arranged 
around the bust of Washington in its niche high 
between the windows on the main landing of 
the staircase. We received abont one hundred 
and forty guests — men, women, and children of 
all ages — in the room at the head of the stairs, 
where some of the tapestries were hung. It 
was a most democratic assembly — young school- 
girls, teachers, most of the regular "colony," 
American women who had married Belgians — 
and they seemed to enjoy the dancing, to Ameri- 
can airs. On the table in the dining-room was 
a splendid cake of many stories, all flag-be- 
decked — every one of the flags was proudly 
carried off before the afternoon was over. 

For a change from the official routine and the 
formal entertainments, we often started out on 
a rainy evening and walked the glistening boule- 
vards down into the town, so gay with its bril- 
liantly lighted shops and restaurants. Having 
been duly advised by our Secretary of Legation 
of a respectable place to which diplomats 
"might" go, we sought it out and had happy 
little dinners together, forgetting our troubles 
for the time. 

Perhaps the most delightful day I spent in 
Brussels was at Laeken. The Summer Palace 



40 The Spell of Belgium 

stood on a hill overlooking the city, and was 
built of gray stone in Kenaissance style. The 
greenhouses, which were erected by old King 
Leopold, were supposed to be the largest in 
the world. One could walk for miles through 
covered glass walks, with climbing geraniums 
and fuchsias hanging from the roof and helio- 
trope filling the air with its perfume. 

The place was at its best for the royal garden 
party in May. As the invitations said two 
o'clock, we had luncheon early and set out at 
half after one. Soon we were careering up the 
fine avenue du Pare Eoyal, zigzagging from 
one side to the other as different officials gave 
us conflicting directions. Farther on, the road 
skirted the splendid park of Laeken, and we 
could look out over wide sweeps of lawn with 
great masses of trees and artificial waters wind- 
ing in and out. Fine vistas led the eye up to 
the palace, which stood in a more formal set- 
ting of garden and terraces. 

At the great gate in front of the palace, 
grenadiers in bearskin shakos stood guard, with 
uniformed officials and red-coated servants in 
gold lace and plumed hats. The palace was 
still unfinished, but looked very impressive. 
About it were great clumps of rhododendrons 
and magnificent lilacs. 



Diplomatic Life 41 

The carriages stopped at the orangery, which 
had a long facade of stone columns and glass. 
Alighting, we passed into a perfect wonderland. 
To each side of us stretched a wing of a palace 
of crystal, with three rows of enormous orange 
trees arcading promenades. 

Beyond this we passed into the great palm 
house, a vast dome with palms so huge that 
they seemed to lose themselves in the height of 
the rotunda. The people strolling beneath them 
looked quite like pygmies in contrast. 

All the parterre was laid out with bright- 
coloured flowers. In a paved space in the cen- 
ter was held the royal circle. When the King 
and Queen arrived, the people arranged them- 
selves along the sides — the Diplomatic Corps, 
the ministry, and prominent Belgians — and a 
band played gaily while Their Majesties came 
down the line. The scene was really fairylike. 

The circle lasted a long time, and we were 
beginning to weary of standing, when the royal 
party finally set out to make a tour of the green- 
houses. The rest of us followed, glad of a 
chance to see the wonders of which we had heard 
so much — and wonders they were indeed, for 
who ever saw before a lovely chapel built en- 
tirely of glass? 

First we passed through a wide, two-aisled 



42 The Spell of Belgium 

gallery with a forest of palms above and a rich 
display of pink and rose-coloured azaleas be- 
low. Then down steps into long, narrow pas- 
sageways that were a bower as far as the eye 
could reach, gorgeous with climbing geraniums 
and lovely cinerarias. These galleries led one 
hither and thither, now in one direction, now in 
another, till both eye and mind were dazed with 
pleasure. We passed through tunnels of 
blooming flowers, and there was no end to the 
astonishing glory of colour and beauty. 

Here and there were little grottoes with mir- 
rors, and fountains plashing ; then more alleys, 
and another great house all aflame with azaleas. 
Steps led to the door of a pavilion. Here it was 
that King Leopold II had died. 

Our progress was not rapid, as the King and 
Queen stopped frequently to speak to different 
people. But we finally made the tour and re- 
turned to the great rotunda, where I felt as if 
I were standing in an unreal world, inside a 
giant soap-bubble of many colours. 



CHAPTER III 

BEUSSELS BEFOEE THE WAK 

£>HE social life of Brussels we found very 
interesting. That of the Court was sim- 
ple but elegant, while that of the aris- 
tocracy was old-world and conservative to a de- 
gree. Indeed, it was much like that of the 
Faubourg in Paris. Outside of royalty and 
serene highnesses, every one "in society' ' was 
either a count or a baron. It certainly seemed 
strange to an American that not one was with- 
out a title. 

Another custom which struck one as odd was 
that of using titles in letters — they would often 
sign themselves "Countess So-and-$o," or 
"Princess X." If a woman belonged to a fine 
family she would put "nee" with her maiden 
name on her card. 

An amusing travesty on titles occurred when 
our footman received letters addressed to the 
"Chief Cleaner of the Silver." I saw two 
cards which were even funnier than this, 
though. One bore the man's name and the 

43 



44 The Spell of Belgium 

title, "The Secretary of the Secretary of the 
Minister of" — such a department. The other 

was a card of a Doctor A , who had inscribed 

beneath his name, "Doctor for the Countess of 
B 's stomach." 

Hospitality generally took the form of after- 
noon teas. I have often been to as many as 
three or four in a day. They were always very 
ceremonial affairs, with all the servants turned 
out in style to receive me alone or perhaps two 
or three other guests. 

During Lent people often received in the 
evening. Tea and cake and orangeade were 
served, while the guests sat and gossiped. At 
this season, we discovered, all the dinners had to 
have either fish or meat — not both — as it was a 
Eoman Catholic country. Sundays, which are 
not Lenten days, gave them an opportunity for 
varying the festivities. 

Dinners were given occasionally, and were 
always very formal and very long — really ban- 
quets — made up of a succession of rich dishes 
with a small glass of red or white wine with 
every course. The placing of guests at table 
was an extremely important matter, for every 
one must be seated strictly according to rank. 
One does not wonder that there were so few din- 
ners, considering the difficulty of finding a 



Brussels Before the War 45 

group of congenial people who could dine to- 
gether without dissatisfaction. Each was 
likely to think that he should have been given a 
higher place, and to go home feeling insulted in- 
stead of happy. 

The favourite subjects among the women 
were children and the rainy weather ; aside from 
gossip there was talk of little else. The men 
had no objection to sitting in silence, and were 
inclined to consider women who talked as chat- 
terboxes. But for all that, they were very 
charming and high-bred and delightful to meet. 

I should judge the Belgian sense of humour 
was not like ours. Many of them had a Latin 
wit, but as a race they were rather serious and 
conventional. They seemed to consider it bad 
form to have what we call a good time; all 
their entertainments were formal and dignified. 

There was much in their character that was 
delightfully mediaeval. People in the highest 
position socially would say with perfect sim- 
plicity things that sounded very strange to our 
ears. A man of high rank and intelligence ex- 
plained to me one day that the reason why the 
Belgians slept with their windows closed was 
that the early morning air was bad for the eyes ! 
He was quite serious about it and seemed to 
think the excuse sufficient. 



46 The Spell of Belgium 

I believe some of them still imagined that our 
country had not reached even the first stages 
of civilization. A little gentlewoman whom I 
had engaged through a friend to act as secre- 
tary courtesied very prettily on being pre- 
sented, but wasn't at all sure whether we were 
South Americans or not, and inquired rather 
anxiously whether I had ever before been away 
from my native land. She thought that I 
should always be accompanied when out walk- 
ing. 

I once asked an American lady who had mar- 
ried a Belgian what her adopted countrymen 
thought of Americans. She laughed and told 
me what happened when her husband took her 
home to his chateau as a bride, many years be- 
fore. All the peasants and tradespeople of the 
village had turned out to greet them, and while 
they were evidently pleased, something in her 
appearance seemed to surprise them. Finally 
her husband asked some one if there was any- 
thing the matter. Very politely the man ex- 
plained that since they had heard that their new 
countess came from America, they had all ex- 
pected her to be black. The Count paused a 
moment, glancing at his wife, who was not only 
very beautiful but very blonde, and then an- 
swered gravely, "Oh, but you must not forget 



Brussels Before the War 47 

— it is winter now. My wife, she only turns 
black in summer!" 

Before the war broke down the barriers be- 
tween them, the Belgians and Dutch were much 
inclined to make fun of each other. The former 
said their neighbours were heavy, stupid and 
stiff. The Dutch retorted that the Belgians 
were so weak they could simply eat them up if 
they wished. 

Quite the most important social event of the 
Brussels year was the Fancy Fair, which was 
given for the benefit of some charity. It came 
off in February and lasted four days. I had 
been asked to help on the flower table, where we 
sold not only flowers, real and artificial, but 
flower stands, vases, and perfumes. The 
shelves and tables were covered with mauve 
paper and velvet, and the effect was quite 
pretty. The fair was much like ours at home, 
and most of the men were afraid to attend. 
Some of the diplomats discreetly sent donations 
with their cards. The Queen was expected, but 
was ill at the last moment and the Comtesse de 
Flandre took her place, spending ten dollars at 
each table. 

During the winter months Belgium sees lit- 
tle of the sun. All through April, too, they 
tell you, as a matter of course, "It is to rain." 



48 The Spell of Belgium 

The weather is undoubtedly bad. In most 
countries the people stand up for their climate 
to some extent, but there they have to acknowl- 
edge that it is wretched. May can be delight- 
ful, as I discovered, with floods of sunshine 
everywhere. But even then there were cold, 
dreary days, and later in the month the chestnut 
trees turned brown and the flowers began to 
fade, so the spring is short enough at best. 

I found the streets of Brussels always amus- 
ing, whether the sun was in or out. There were 
sturdy dogs pulling carts laden with shining 
brass and copper milk-cans, the occasional 
trumpet-call and tramp of soldiers, and the 
women selling baskets of flowers, as they do in 
Rome. The church bells rang at all hours, for 
the clocks did not any two of them agree, and 
were forever contradicting each other with their 
musical chimes. 

As I have said before, Brussels was a model 
city, beautiful and well kept. In the center of 
the town was the superb Grande Place, second 
to none in Europe, with the Hotel de Ville, 
which was second only to that in Louvain, the 
galleried and much-gilded Maison du Roi, and 
the many guild-houses of the archers and skip- 
pers and printers and merchants. I am told 
that this historic square has been mined by the 



Brussels Before the War 49 

Germans, so that all its treasures of mediaeval 
architecture can be blown up at a moment 's no- 
tice. 

The Grande Place was at its best when there 
was a kermesse. Then the windows of the 
guild-halls and the long galleries of the Hotel de 
Ville — the glory of Brussels — were lined with 
people looking down into the square. Flags 
streamed from the buildings, and there was 
good music, and groups of happy burghers were 
drinking their beer at little tables. After dark 
there was continuous illumination of the lovely 
spire of the Hotel de Ville, with varying col- 
oured lights that showed its tracery and de- 
sign in beautiful, mysterious relief— an entran- 
cing sight. 

Not far from the corner of the Hotel stood 
the famous little fountain figure of the Manni- 
kin, the " First Citizen of Brussels." He 
was dressed for the kermesse in his best Sun- 
day-go-to-meeting suit, as was proper for the 
occasion — a plum-coloured velvet with ruffles 
and embroidery, a three-cornered hat with 
feathers and cockade, buckled shoes, and white 
stockings and gloves. 

The Grande Place was the civic center of 
Brussels. The Government buildings were 
grouped about a park half a mile away, with 



50 The Spell of Belgium 

the royal palace at one end and the Palais de la 
Nation, the House of Parliament, at the other. 
Close by, on either side, were grouped the vari- 
ous departments and the fine houses provided 
for the Ministers by the Government. 

The Palais de la Nation was only moderately 
impressive. The senate chamber was deco- 
rated with frescos, while the " deputies' ' was 
bare and plain. Like our two houses in Wash- 
ington, the upper was rather dignified, while 
the lower was in apparent disorder all the time. 
While Parliament was in session huissiers with 
their chains of office about their necks were on 
guard throughout the building. 

One of the points in Brussels most familiar 
to me was the Gare du Nord, near the long 
public greenhouse and park, where the narrow 
shopping street began, in the lower part of the 
town. This led to the Bourse, the Place de la 
Monnaie, and the Grand Theatre. Then there 
was the upper Boulevard with its tram that 
climbed the hill from the Gare du Nord, and a 
foot and bridle path which led through the 
Quartier Leopold — and on for miles to the 
Gare du Midi, changing its name with every 
block. 

There were three good motor roads leading 
out of town: one from this boulevard to 



Brussels Before the War 51 

the avenue Louise continued on through the 
Bois ; another extended from the Quartier Leo- 
pold to the Musee Congo, while a third led in 
the opposite direction, through the lower town 
and on to Laeken, where the Summer Palace of 
the King was located. 

A favourite stroll of mine from the Legation 
was through the park near by, between the pal- 
ace and the government houses, past the palace 
of the Comtesse de Flandre and the Museum, to 
the American Club for a cup of afternoon tea. 
I sometimes stopped and took a look at the in- 
teresting paintings in the Museum — a jumble of 
religious pictures, butchers' shops, and fat 
women. The street known as the Montagnc 
de la Cour, in this part of the town, was widened 
a few years ago by the old King, and no doubt is 
more healthy, but its picturesqueness was much 
marred by the tearing down of some quaint old 
houses which had stood there for genera- 
tions. 

Before the war Brussels was one of the first 
musical cities of Europe. This was not a new 
honour for it, however, for as far back as the 
fifteenth century the Low Countries led the 
world in the art of music. They furnished 
choirmasters for the churches of the continent, 
and singers for the royal courts. Besides all 



52 The Spell of Belgium 

this, they founded schools of music and sup- 
plied the instruction as well. One of their most 
famous composers, Gretry, who lived in the 
eighteenth century, wrote many operas which 
were very popular in Paris. Much of his life 
was spent in the French capital, but when he 
died his heart was taken to his native Liege for 
burial. One of his songs is supposed to have 
inspired the Marseillaise by its vigorous expres- 
sion of loyalty to the French king. 

Few people, I believe, know that Beethoven's 
father was a Belgian. Since the tragedy of 
Belgium, the great composer has been taken out 
of the German Hall of Fame. His ancestral 
town was Louvain. 

"Beethoven? From Louvain his fathers spring, 
Hence came the exile's dolor in his mien. 
Rebukes prophetic in his numbers ring; 
And when wild clangors smite his sealed ears, 
And loud alarums rung by hands unseen, 
It is the tocsin of his town he hears." 

Because of their long inheritance of good mu- 
sical taste, the public of modern Brussels had 
the reputation of being the most difficult to 
please of any. Even London and Paris audi- 
ences seemed less critical, and a triumph in 
Brussels was a triumph indeed. The audience 
was usually made up of thoroughly educated 




EUGENE YSAYE 



Brussels Before the War 53 

musicians who went to concerts seriously. 
Both Calve and Melba made their debuts there. 

But much of Brussels' musical renown was 
due to the presence there of the two great mas- 
ters of the violin — Thompson and Ysaye. The 
former is less known in this country than Ysaye, 
who has had great success here and is a popular 
favourite in England as well. But he himself 
considers Thompson his superior, and cer- 
tainly the latter is acknowledged to be the great- 
est living master of technique. 

Both men came from Liege, in the Walloon 
country, and both have been head of the violin 
department in the Conservatoire in Brussels. 
When Ysaye resigned a few years ago, Thomp- 
son took his place. (The Conservatoire, by the 
way, was subsidized by the Government and was 
entirely for the service of the people. The 
aristocracy did not send their children there, 
employing members of the faculty to come to 
their homes instead.) Unlike so many great 
men, Ysaye was honoured in his own country, 
and appreciated and adored by his own people. 
He was especially adored by his pupils, who 
considered him a sort of god. 

When Thompson played in Boston he was not 
appreciated. He admits that' he has stage 
fright, and when appearing before a large audi- 



54 The Spell of Belgium 

ence becomes frozen and fails to play at his 
best. He is a master of counterpoint, and an 
authority on ancient music. Although a fine 
teacher, he sometimes becomes sarcastic, and his 
pupils do not worship him as Ysaye's do. His 
son served in the Belgian army and at last ac- 
counts was convalescing from a wound, in an 
English hospital. 

We attended a wonderful performance of 
" Gotterdammerung, ' ' which began at half -past 
^ve and lasted all the evening. An American 
woman, Madame Walker, sang remarkably well. 
The opera was very good, and Friday night was 
the fashionable time to attend, when it was gen- 
erally crowded. 

One morning we went to the "Concours de 
Violons ,, at the Conservatoire. The playing 
was of a high order and the enthusiasm of the 
crowded audience tremendous. The judges sat 
in one of the stage boxes and the competitions 
began at nine, all the pupils playing the same 
piece in succession. Each competitor came out 
and stood on the stage alone, save for her ac- 
companist and her teacher, and played for some 
fifteen minutes, facing the jury and the critical 
crowd. 

Quite the nicest looking of all the contestants 
was a little American girl of sixteen, Miss 



Brussels Before the War 55 

Hildegarde Nash, who seemed very self-pos- 
sessed. Her method was so perfect that, while 
she had to compete with men, as well as with 
other clever little half-grown girls like herself, 
she gained a "premier prix avec grand distinc- 
tion." We felt quite proud of her. 

Besides the music, there were conferences — 
talks by various people on various subjects. 
One went to them either by invitation, or by 
purchasing tickets ; some were given for charity, 
others for mutual benefit. 

Before the war broke out there were about 
two hundred of our compatriots in the American 
colony in Brussels. Most of the older ones had 
brought their children there because the schools 
were good and quite inexpensive, and both rents 
and servants ' wages were low. Many of the 
younger people were there for the purpose of 
studying music. 

The life of an American girl studying in any 
Continental city is always beset with difficulties. 
This was no less true in Brussels, the "Little 
Paris' ' of the Low Countries, than elsewhere. 
So that winter I started an American Students' 
Club. It occupied so much of my time that it 
is worth a passing mention here. We had some 
difficulty in finding suitable rooms ; my husband 
was much amused because I found some excel- 



56 The Spell of Belgium 

lent ones over what he insisted was a bar, 
though it was really a restaurant. However, 
we didn't take them, but a lower suite in a re- 
spectable pension with a small writing room, 
reading room, tea and music rooms, bath, bed- 
room and kitchen. 

The club had its opening the first of February, 
and during Lent it was crowded. Different 
ladies poured tea, and the students sang or re- 
cited. The little Boston girl who had won the 
prize at the Conservatoire played for us de- 
lightfully, as did also Miss Zoellner and others. 
Including the students and their friends we 
sometimes had a hundred present. In the 
spring it was suggested that we should give the 
most prominent member of the club an introduc- 
tion, so it was voted that Miss Donnan should 
have the first concert given for her. She had 
quite a lovely high voice, and the affair was very 
successful. 

Later on the character of the club was some- 
what altered. The membership grew and the 
treasury swelled, but it became more of an 
American woman's club, with dances and bridge 
whist. The last I heard it was being restored 
more to its original character. I hope it has 
been of service to Americans during the war. 

Even before this war there was much kindly 



Brussels Before the War 57 

feeling in Belgium toward Americans, although 
during our war with Spain they sympathized 
with the Spaniards. (During the Boer War 
they were anti-English.) There was an eclipse 
of the sun in April, and at the moment of great- 
est darkness Baron von der Elst of the Foreign 
Office came to express to L. the sympathy of 
the Government in the face of the catastrophe 
to the Titanic — a catastrophe that we, like the 
rest of the world, had been slow to believe pos- 
sible. The Baron said that the King was much 
concerned, and that they intended to express 
their sympathy in Parliament that afternoon. 
Indeed, both the Senate and the Chamber of 
Deputies passed resolutions of condolence, and 
later the King sent his Grand Marshal, Comte 
de Merode, to further express his sympathy and 
distress. 

"When spring came, and sunnier weather, I 
had many delightful rides on horseback. A fa- 
vourite one, which I took several times with the 
Due and Duchesse d'Ursel, was out in the Foret 
de Soignes, which was quite wonderful with its 
damp young green. It covered some ten thou- 
sand acres, and had alleys of great trees with 
beautiful vistas. 

About twelve hundred years ago, they tell 
you, a gay and worldly young prince lived in a 



58 The Spell of Belgium 

castle near the edge of this forest, where he 
was fond of hunting. He was so devoted to the 
sport, in fact, that he qnite neglected the fast 
days, and hunted on Fridays as freely as on 
Mondays. This impiety conld not be permitted, 
of course. One day a white stag bearing be- 
tween its antlers a cross, appeared to the prince 
in a forest glade. The vision so impressed the 
young man that he forsook his sport and turned 
religious. In time he became Bishop of Liege, 
converted Brabant from paganism to Christi- 
anity, and was canonized by the Church he had 
served so faithfully. The people still believe 
that the blessing of St. Hubert rests upon the 
Foret de Soignes. 

A favourite sport with all classes, but also a 
social function, was horse-racing. There was 
a lovely miniature racecourse at Boitsfort, just 
beyond the Pare de la Cambre. We walked 
down among the flower beds and under the 
shading trees to where the horses were being 
paraded and the betting was going on. The 
dresses of the women, of whom all sorts and 
conditions were crowded together, were quite 
remarkable. 

The races frequently took place on Sunday 
afternoon. There was one at Groenendal, out 
on the avenue Louise, through the Pare de la 



Brussels Before the War 59 

Cambre — the latter very beautiful with its wide 
sweeps and vistas, all crowded with the holiday- 
making people. We ran by the artificial waters 
dotted with little boats, out through the alley 
of the Foret de Soignes, where the deep, pleas- 
ant woods were all sun and shadow, and filled 
with promenaders. From there we went on 
past Groenendal Chateau, along a road that re- 
minded one of Rock Creek Park in Washing- 
ton, turning at length into the Grande Route, 
which leads to Waterloo. This was a great ave- 
nue of trees, lined with the burnish of copper 
beeches. At last we reached the hippodrome, 
the racecourse of Groenendal, and were just in 
time to see the great steeple-chase of the year. 
The course was unexpectedly pretty, small and 
with cozy stands. The international steeple- 
chase, ridden by French and Belgian officers in 
uniform, was very exciting and well run, and 
the whole scene beautiful against the green 
background of the forest. 

Afterward we walked in the Bois de la Cam- 
bre, across the wide lawns with the people sit- 
ting about in groups, and into the shade of the 
great trees, dipping down into the valleys where 
hundreds of children were playing and tumbling 
about, and up again across the plateau. Here 
in the groves of beech trees were restaurants 



60 The Spell of Belgium 

with many little tables and crowds of people 
listening to the music. Later we motored back 
to the avenue Louise, which was the bourgeois 
promenade of a Sunday afternoon, and down its 
long length to the boulevards and home. 

One week-day afternoon in early May we 
went to the horse show, which was the last im- 
portant spring event. It was held in the great 
glass building back of the Palais du Cinquante- 
naire, the floor being laid out in a lovely par- 
terre with banks of flowers and palms and 
blossoming chestnuts. In this setting the 
jumps and obstacles were arranged. There 
was a water jump in the center, and a great, 
terrible, grassy mound on to which the horses 
had to jump and from which they had to stride 
over a fence back on to the flat again. It was 
heart-breaking to watch the tumbles there — 
twenty-six took place ; the horses seemed to fear 
it more than the men, and showed their nervous- 
ness. When we went again we were relieved to 
see that it had been removed. 

As the show was a great social event, all the 
women were in their best, and the men wore 
black coats and silk hats. The officers of the 
Guides Regiment were very showy in their 
bright uniforms, and there were many French 
officers there, too, in the pale blue and red of 



Brussels Before the War 61 

the Chasseurs. The royal loge had a canopy 
and a garden of azaleas. It all made a very 
lovely scene. 

The King and Queen came in full state to 
the Cinquantenaire for the exhibition of the 
cadets of the school of riding at Ypres. There 
was a tremendous crowd in the huge building, 
and the horsemanship was good, though no bet- 
ter than one could see at Fort Myer at home. 
There were various feats of jumping, of fencing 
on horseback, and some musical rides. One 
officer jumped his horse over three other horses, 
while others took a " burning" hedge. 

The entry of the royal cortege was quite fine, 
for the gate at the end was opened and a squad- 
ron of the Guides came with fanfare of trum- 
pets and took up their position opposite the 
royal loge. Then followed the five carriages, 
with red-coated outriders on prancing horses 
leading the way, each one attended by four red- 
coated postilions wearing gold tassels on their 
caps. There was much waving of handker- 
chiefs, and some cheering, when they came in, 
but when they left there was more of a demon- 
stration, for the ladies in the audience had been 
provided with flowers, and as the royal carriage 
drove around the arena Their Majesties re- 
ceived a shower of blossoms. 



62 The Spell of Belgium 

This horse show turned out tragically, how- 
ever. The great event of another day was the 
international military race, run by many 
French and Belgian officers. They were started 
somewhere out in the country, and after a ten- 
mile run entered the arena, heralded by the 
blare of trumpets, followed each other over a 
series of jumps and passed out of a second gate 
for another ten miles across country, returning 
finally for more jumps. At some bars just op- 
posite our loge young Lieutenant Terlinden, a 
son-in-law of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
fell, with his horse on top of him, and never 
regained consciousness. His wife was there, 
and his mother, and the world of Brussels, look- 
ing on. He was a splendid rider, but had a 
poor horse. 

We often ran out to Waterloo in the open 
motor, shooting down the avenue Louise, 
through the Bois de la Cambre and the Foret 
de Soignes, and finally out on the wide paved 
highway to St. Jean and Waterloo. From 
there it was a short ride through the straggling 
village to the rolling country which made the 
battlefield, its center marked by the conical hill 
surmounted by its lion. It is reported that the 
Germans have melted this lion for ammunition. 
Going by this roundabout way, and taking our 



Brussels Before the War 63 

time, the run was made in about an hour, but it 
was a day's journey before motors came into 
use. 

We passed the rather poor monuments along 
the roadside, and La Haye Saint e, with its 
broken farmyard walls and buildings, its 
muddy, dirty stable with its dung heaps, and 
on to the low, insignificant farmhouse of La 
Belle Alliance. On the way back we used to 
visit the battered walls and farm buildings of 
Hougomont, with its yard full of scratching 
chickens and scattering pigeons, and its bit of 
a chapel. Everywhere were mud and litter, a 
few broken bricks showing where the well had 
been. The only dignified thing about Hougo- 
mont was a bronze tablet placed on its ruined 
wall by the English Guards. 

I was very much struck by the small area of 
the battlefield — all the positions were so near, 
and in plain sight of each other — quite different 
from the long battle line of to-day. It is hard to 
realize that a struggle of such tremendous im- 
portance was fought in such a limited space. 

It seemed a pity that this most famous of the 
scenes of great events should not have been 
turned into a government park and preserved. 
When we were there the land was being sold off 
into lots, and every year the aspect of the battle- 



64 The Spell of Belgium 

field was changing. But for all that we went 
again and again, for the fields were sweet with 
spring and flowers in the warm sunshine, and it 
was so quiet and peaceful. That is how we 
shall remember it, as we saw it a century af tei 
the battle. 




CHAPTEE IV 

IN DAYS OF KNIGHT AND VILLAIN 

j> ANY centuries ago, there was fierce fight- 
ing in the glorious Meuse valley, where 
history seems to have a fancy for re- 
peating itself. Then, as today, Dinant was a 
center of events, and it is good to know that 
the Belgians are strong and full of courage, as 
in the days when Caesar called them "the brav- 
est of all the Gauls.' ' 

When the victorious Roman legions reached 
this outpost of Gaul, they found themselves op- 
posed by men of two different races — the fisher- 
men of the coast and the hunters of the hills 
and valleys further inland. In the first shock 
of battle, it was only the personal bravery of 
Caesar that saved the legionaries from defeat, 
and eight years of campaigning were required 
before the Eoman general could report the 
province subdued. The warlike tribes of the 
south were well-nigh destroyed. Those, on the 
other hand, who lived on the sand dunes or in 
hovels raised on piles above the tides, were 
more fortunate. Caesar himself with five le- 

65 



66 The Spell of Belgium 

gions finally reduced these men of the swamps 
to merely nominal submission. 

Transalpine Gaul was, by its conqueror, 
formed into a single province, of which the 
land of the Belgae was the northern part, but 
under Augustus it was divided into three 
provinces, the most distant one named Belgica. 
The people of southern Belgica, being nearer 
to the Roman civilization of Gaul, lost their 
primitive customs, their energy and courage. 
The people of the north, less under the influence 
of the conquerors, kept their love of independ- 
ence, their frugal, industrious habits, added 
trade with England to their fisheries as a means 
of livelihood, and developed a strong stock, to 
which the future growth of the country was 
due. 

Three hundred years after Caesar's conquest, 
the Salian Franks, a confederacy of German 
tribes, invaded the country and settled between 
the Rhine and the Waal. They were resisted 
by most of the Gauls but welcomed by the 
Menapians of the Belgic coast. 

There was, however, no real bond of union 
between the peaceful, hard-working people of 
the lowlands and the warlike Franks. The 
shore dwellers north of the Rhine formed with 
the tribes on the coasts of the German Ocean 



In Days of Knight and Villain 67 

the Saxon League, which after a time renewed 
the warfare between Frank and Saxon, a war- 
fare destined to endure till the twentieth cen- 
tury and to be waged then as fiercely as in the 
fourth. Driven by the Saxons from the coast 
districts, the Franks gradually made them- 
selves masters of southern Belgica and north- 
ern Gaul, and the Romanized people of that sec- 
tion were submerged. Finally, toward the end 
of the fifth century, Clovis, King of the Franks, 
succeeded in extending his rule over the greater 
part of Gaul. 

At this early date the limits were already 
sharply marked out of the two great divisions 
of Belgium that have persisted until today — 
Flanders and the "Walloon country. Flanders 
received continual additions from the German 
tribes who, worsted in the struggle with Rome, 
fled across the Rhine, and became the land of 
the Flemings (the "e" at first pronounced 
long), or fugitives. Retaining their Teutonic 
traits, these kept steadily at their difficult task 
of winning comfort and civilization from the 
hard conditions in which they were placed. 
Even today they cling tenaciously to their 
Flemish tongue, which is a variety of Low Ger- 
man, differing but little from Dutch. 

The Franks of southern Belgica, on the other 



68 The Spell of Belgium 

hand, like their neighbours in Gaul, became to 
all intents and purposes, transformed into 
French, and adopted for their language not a 
corrupt French, as we understand that term, 
but a dialect of the langue d'oil, the old Ro- 
mance tongue which was the speech of Gaul in 
that age. 

The successors of Clovis had many a strug- 
gle with the people of the Low Countries, but 
gradually the Frankish, or Merovingian, kings 
yielded to the Roman luxury that surrounded 
them and became a race of ' & do-nothings. ' ' 
Then arose those mayors of the palace, of whom 
Pepin of Heristall, the Belgian, was the father 
of Charles Martel, the ' ' Hammer ' ' whose vigor- 
ous blows crushed the Saracens and drove them 
from French soil. 

The year 800 found Charlemagne, mightiest 
of the Franks, in possession of the Western 
Empire. The steady progress of the Nether- 
lands was seen in the rise of the towns of 
Bruges, Ghent, Courtrai and Antwerp, not alone 
as trading centers but as seats of manufacture. 
The system of dikes for the protection of the 
lowlands from the sea had at that time been 
established by the united efforts of all the peo- 
ple of the region, who had thereby learned in 
some measure the value of cooperation. 



In Days of Knight and Villain 69 

Christianity, introduced in the reign of 
Clovis, had gained much power. It is impossi- 
ble to overestimate the work of monks and nuns, 
whose religious houses were at once schools, 
hospitals, book marts and universities. Tour- 
nai and Liege were the seats of bishops, who 
were even more powerful than the counts who 
played such a great part in the history of the 
period. 

The count was at first only an officer of the 
king, not an hereditary noble, and received as 
his salary the revenue of the lands which he 
held during his term of office. The tenants on 
these estates were completely in his power. If 
he could muster a sufficient force of armed men 
he might even defy the king, and thus retain his 
office for a longer time. 

About the middle of the ninth century, Bald- 
win, a Fleming of great power, who had de- 
fended the coast against the Normans, carried 
off Judith, daughter of the French king, Charles 
the Bald. Much against his will, Charles was 
obliged to give his consent to the marriage, and 
settled upon Baldwin all the land between the 
Scheldt and the Somme. Baldwin, named 
Bras-de-fer (of the Iron Arm), was thus the 
first Count of Flanders. Some authorities con- 
sider this the oldest hereditary title of nobility 



70 The Spell of Belgium 

in Europe. It is borne today by tbe second son 
of the King. 

Other powerful vassals of this period were 
the counts of Louvain and Namur. Still 
mightier was the Bishop of Liege, who felt him- 
self so strong that he even made an attempt — 
unsuccessful, however — to seize the domain of 
the Count of Louvain. 

Under Baldwin II, son of Bras-de-fer, who 
married the daughter of Alfred the Great of 
England, the cities of Bruges, Ghent, Courtrai 
and Ypres were fortified, and thus insured the 
opportunity of becoming the great mediaeval 
centers of freedom and progress. 

After cloth weaving was begun, the first mar- 
kets were opened at Ghent, Courtrai and 
Bruges. The word kermesse, the Belgian name 
for fair or fete, is linked in an interesting way 
with these markets of the Middle Ages. They 
were called kerk (church) messe (market), be- 
cause held around the church or cathedral, and 
only the inconvenient letter k needed to be 
dropped out to give the word kermesse. 

At first sight, the history of the Netherlands 
from about the tenth century down to the nine- 
teenth appears a confused and confusing story 
of wars and uprisings, of conspiracies and per- 
secutions — count against bishop, city against 




COMTE DE FLAXDRE, SECOND SOX OF KING ALBERT. 



In Days of Knight and Villain 71 

city, nobles and even, in one instance, a king, 
against the Emperor. But if we look more 
closely, we discern three great forces at work 
through all the turmoil. These were feudalism, 
the Crusades, and the rise of the towns, or com- 
munes. A fourth influence, the power of the 
Church, was closely associated with these, some- 
times as a direct impelling force, sometimes as 
a guiding or restraining hand, and again bat- 
tling for its own temporal power with little more 
regard for the well-being of the masses than 
was manifested by the lay barons themselves. 
After the break-up of the Eoman Empire, 
when there were no strong central governments 
in Europe, when practically the only law was 
the will of the strongest, it was inevitable that 
a vast number of petty chieftains should gather 
about them as many followers as possible, both 
in order to protect themselves and to plunder 
others. The ablest of these, by waging a con- 
tinual warfare, either killed off many of their 
rivals and took possession of their lands, or 
reduced them to submission and made them 
tenants of their own. These tenants held their 
land only on condition of furnishing a certain 
number of men for their lord's wars and paying 
certain taxes, later called "aids," for his sup- 
port. When this state of society became finally 



72 The Spell of Belgium 

organized as the feudal system, the king or em- 
peror was the overlord, the counts swore alle- 
giance to him, the petty nobles and knights 
were tenants in their turn. By the twelfth cen- 
tury, the counts and bishops were little kings 
in their own domains. They had gradually ac- 
quired all the rights of the crown. They coined 
money, established markets, acquired the rights 
of fishing, hunting, brewing and milling, and 
collected the tolls. They were vassals of the 
king in little more than name. 

Below this landed aristocracy were the two 
classes of villains and serfs, who led a miserable 
existence, possessing scarcely one of what we 
consider the inalienable rights of man. Both 
villains and serfs were slaves, bound to the 
soil, but the servitude of the latter was hope- 
less and irremediable. Serfs must always be 
serfs. But the villains had the privilege of 
earning their freedom. 

When Peter the Hermit, a Walloon of the 
province of Liege, made his impassioned ap- 
peals to Christendom to rescue the Holy Sepul- 
cher from the Saracen, it was Godfrey of Bouil- 
lon, another Walloon, who laid aside his titles 
and sold his possessions that he might equip 
an army for the conquest of the Holy Land. 
Godfrey was made "Advocate" of Jerusalem, 



In Days of Knight and Villain 73 

and was the first Western ruler of the sacred 
city. His brother Baldwin became King of 
Edessa, in Mesopotamia, and his descendants 
were kings of Jerusalem. Next to Godfrey, 
both as knight and leader, stood Count Robert 
of Flanders. 

It is told of Philip of Alsace, Count of Flan- 
ders, that he challenged and defeated a mighty 
Saracen in single combat. The device on his 
shield, which Philip bore away as a trophy, was 
a black lion on a field of gold. This became the 
emblem of Flanders. 

But Philip of Alsace was noted not alone for 
his prowess in battle; he was an enlightened 
ruler for his age. He resigned the privileges 
of "mainmorte" and "half -have." By "main- 
morte," if a man died without leaving direct 
heirs, his property went to the count. By 
"half -have," half of all the property left by 
any of his vassals went to the count. 

In the year 1200, Baldwin, Count of Hainault 
and Flanders, led the fifth crusade. Turning 
aside from the road to Jerusalem, he captured 
Constantinople, and was crowned Emperor in 
St. Sophia. During the fifty years that Bald- 
win and his descendants reigned in Constanti- 
nople, ships from Flanders brought the luxuries 
of the Orient to Western Europe. Many car- 



74 The Spell of Belgium 

goes of silks and spices, of linen, damask and 
carpets, and other Eastern products, were 
landed on the wharves of Ghent and Bruges, 
which became the greatest centers of European 
commerce. 

The influence of the Crusades upon social 
progress in Belgium was not less marked than 
upon commerce. Shrewd townsmen who fur- 
nished their lord with means to equip his fol- 
lowers exacted in return a pledge of additional 
freedom. While the powerful nobles were in 
the Holy Land, moreover, their tenants were 
relieved from their demands, and made prog- 
ress in all the arts of life. 

When, after the death of Charlemagne, the 
river Scheldt was made the boundary of 
France, to the west of that river lay West 
Francia, which became France; to the east 
stretched Lotharingia, shortened to Lorraine, 
the land of Lothaire, a narrow strip separating 
France and Germany. As the various counts 
who possessed the Netherlands grew stronger 
the Duchy of Lorraine grew weaker. Flanders 
especially, under the rule of counts descended 
from Baldwin the Iron-Armed, made great 
progress — lowlands were protected by dikes, 
forests were cleared away, and towns were 
built. It was easily the most powerful part of 



I n Days of Knight and Villain 75 

Belgium. The Normans, who for a century had 
been the terror of the Netherlands, now visited 
Flemish towns to dispose of the booty they had 
won upon the sea, and Bruges became the chief 
seat of this trade. 

The townspeopla of this period fared rather 
better than those in the rural districts. Many 
of the towns had originated as a cluster of peas- 
ants ' huts, grouped around a monastery for 
protection. The inhabitants were tenants of 
the abbot, who in time became one of the power- 
ful lords of the land. But the necessary or- 
ganization of town life gave the citizens the 
habit, to some extent, of working together. 
Consequently, when a body of townsmen pre- 
sented their plea for more privileges, they were 
able to obtain better terms than could be gained 
by single peasants pleading separately. 

So great was the prosperity of the towns 
that, by the year 1066, Flanders was able to 
assist William the Conqueror, who had married 
Matilda, daughter of Baldwin V, Count of 
Flanders, and Flemish knights fought side by 
side with the Normans at Hastings. On the 
famous Bayeux tapestry — which, however, is 
not real tapestry — wrought by Matilda, is pic- 
tured the story of the Conquest of England. 

Woolen cloths, the work of Flemish weavers, 



76 The Spell of Belgium 

were already famous throughout Europe, and 
were carried by the sailors of the Netherlands 
to western and southern ports, with the jewelry, 
corn and salt, also produced in Flanders. 

But the sturdy people of these thriving towns 
were very jealous of the fundamental rights 
which had come down to them from their Ger- 
man ancestors. A painting by the Belgian 
artist, Hennebicq, depicts a landmark in the 
history of the Netherlands — Baldwin VI, Count 
of Flanders, granting a charter of rights to 
the citizens of Grammont, whose representa- 
tives stand before him with drawn swords. 
Baldwin, a kingly, dignified figure, stands on a 
low platform, his left hand resting on his 
sheathed sword, while the townsmen before him 
swear allegiance in return for the guarantee of 
their liberties. The story is this : Count Bald- 
win bought the land belonging to one Baron 
Gerard, and laid it out as a town, to which the 
name Grammont was given, meaning Gerard's 
Mont, or hill. To the men of this town the 
Count gave, in 1068, the first charter of liberties 
ever granted in Europe. Not until 1215 was 
England's Magna Charta wrung from King 
John. 

By the charter were granted " (1) individual 
liberty; (2) the right to hold, buy, sell, inherit, 



In Days of Knight and Villain 77 

or devise property; (3) the privilege of being 
judged by a tribunal of ' echevins' (councillors) 
elected in accordance with local statutes, of giv- 
ing evidence and of being exempt from the ju- 
dicial ordeals that still obtained throughout 
Belgium." The townsmen were also allowed 
the ownership of the neighbouring forest and 
the use of the meadows to pasture their cattle. 
A single reading of this summary, while it 
shows how very elementary were these provi- 
sions, yet makes it plain that this was the germ 
of those later charters guaranteeing the funda- 
mental rights of man. 

In the words of an eminent writer, the Bel- 
gian commune of this period was essentially "a 
confederacy of the inhabitants of a town, living 
within the gates, who bound themselves by an 
oath to lend advice and a helping hand and to 
be true to one another, mutually and individ- 
ually. ' ■ The most striking prerogatives of this 
free association, says the same author, were 
" (1) a municipal counting-house ; (2) a common 
house, or town hall; (3) a seal; (4) a belfry 
(belfort in Flemish), a lofty tower which con- 
tained the town bell, and which ordinarily 
served as a prison or a repository for the ar- 
chives; and (5) an arsenal.' ' 

Besides these communal rights, there were in- 



78 The Spell of Belgium 

dividual, property and judicial rights guaran- 
teed by the charters of the towns, as was 
mentioned in connection with the charter of 
Grammont. Serfs became freemen. The vex- 
atious droit de halle was done away with, by 
which all kinds of goods must be sold in a given 
place and were subject to heavy duties. From 
this came, it is said, those immense halles, most 
of which were built before the towns received 
their charters. Henceforward, justice was to 
be administered by councillors drawn from the 
wealthy burghers and " juries' ' representing 
the trade guilds, and fines and penalties were 
no longer arbitrary impositions but were fixed 
by law. 

It was this same Baldwin VI who granted 
the charter of Grammont of whom the old 
chroniclers wrote: "He might be seen riding 
across Flanders with a falcon or hawk on his 
wrist; he ordered his bailiffs to carry a white 
staff, long and straight, in sign of justice and 
clemency ; no one was allowed to go out armed ; 
the labourer could sleep without fear with his 
doors open, and he could leave his plow in the 
fields without apprehension of being robbed.' ' 

When the King of France, the nominal over- 
lord of the greater part of Flanders, interfered 
in their government in 1071, the citizens quickly 



In Days of Knight and Villain 79 

sprang to arms. Their count had died, and the 
King of France chose to the vacant place his 
widow, Eichilde, also Conntess of Hainault and 
Namur in her own right. The nobility and the 
people of the higher grounds submitted to this 
French intervention, but the townsmen of the 
lowlands rallied to the banner of Kobert the 
Frisian, brother of their late count, and inflict- 
ing upon those professional soldiers a crushing 
defeat, they wrested from the Countess Eichilde 
not only Flanders but also Namur and Hai- 
nault. This battle has come down to us as the 
victory of Cassel, in which "street men" 
showed that they could defend their free- 
dom. 

The Flemish burghers of the twelfth century 
have the honour of initiating a mighty forward 
step in civilization. In every country of Europe, 
up to that time, when one man had wronged an- 
other the injured party took justice into his 
own hands and punished his enemy himself. 
The Church had, by the Truce of God, prohib- 
ited these blood feuds on Friday, Saturday and 
Sunday of every week, and also on certain holy 
days, but Philip of Alsace was the first ruler 
who did away with this relic of barbarism and 
ordered that henceforth every man should bring 
his quarrel for trial to the juries chosen by the 



80 The Spell of Belgium 

townsmen. The glory of demanding this re- 
form belongs, however, to the Flemish burghers. 

By 1260, the cities of Flanders had become so 
strong that they dared to resist their count, and 
passed from his rule to that of the French king, 
whose aid they had sought. Forty years later, 
they rose against this new master. The towns- 
men of Bruges slaughtered the French garri- 
son, and the following year won the " battle of 
the spurs' ' at Courtrai, after which seven hun- 
dred golden spurs were picked up on the field. 
Early that morning, twenty thousand artisans 
of Bruges, in their working dress and armed 
with boar-spears or plowshares set in long 
clubs, received on their knees the blessing of the 
Church, raised a bit of Flemish soil to their 
lips, kissed it, and vowed to die for their coun- 
try, then gave battle to sixty thousand of the 
steel-clad knights and men-at-arms of France. 

A few years later, Brabant compelled its 
duke to grant it an assembly which should trans- 
act all legal and judicial business, and should 
consist of fourteen deputies, four chosen from 
the nobles and the other ten from the people. 
The towns soon began to join their forces. 
Brabant and Flanders formed a sort of union. 
But the burghers owed allegiance not to a coun- 
try but only to a small bit of a country, each to 






In Days of Knight and Villain 81 

his own town. Their confederacy was bonnd 
together by self-interest alone. Ghent was 
jealous of Bruges, and failed to lend assistance 
when the Brugeois rebelled against their count. 
For lack of this support the latter were crushed. 
We speak of the cities of the Netherlands, 
but in the thirteenth century they bore little re- 
semblance to the cities of today. They were 
walled towns, to be sure, but the walls were 
generally ramparts of earth with an outside 
covering of thick planking. Within the walls 
the better class of people lived in low wooden 
dwellings roofed with thatch, the churches and 
the houses of the noblemen and the chief citi- 
zens were often built of stone, but the poor, we 
may imagine, found shelter in rude mud huts. 
The ' ' streets ' ' were usually mere crooked cart 
tracks, the dumping ground for the rubbish of 
the community, in which boards and straw were 
thrown down in an effort to bridge the numer- 
ous holes and pools of muddy water. In Bruges 
and Ghent, as we learn from the ancient records, 
the principal streets were paved with stone 
from the quarries near the Meuse. The squares 
were, perhaps, not unlike the "common" of a 
New England village, open grassy places in 
which were pumps — the common source of 
water supply for the inhabitants — and drinking 



82 The Spell of Belgium 

troughs for the domestic animals that were al- 
lowed to roam through the streets. There was 
the ever present danger of fire in cities so 
rudely built, and the fires often became great 
conflagrations in which whole cities were con- 
sumed. What with the bad roads, the black- 
ness of the unlighted streets, and the presence 
in these towns of many ignorant, riotous work- 
men and seamen from foreign ports, we can un- 
derstand that the citizen who sallied forth with- 
out escort for an evening stroll, having only his 
lantern for protection, might well be risking his 
life in a dangerous adventure. 

Edward III of England now laid claim to the 
crown of France. Jacob van Artevelde, the 
Brewer of Ghent, rallied the Flemings against 
the tyranny of their count, who was supported 
by France, and threw off his yoke. Among the 
petty jealousies and rivalries of that mediaeval 
time, the Great Brewer — so called only because 
he was registered in the brewers ' guild — stands 
out as the lone statesman of his land. (Van 
Artevelde at first belonged to the aristocratic 
clothmakers ' guild, and perhaps changed to that 
of the brewers in order to ally himself more 
closely with the democracy of the city.) His 
outlook was broader than the narrow circle of 
municipal interests. He endeavoured to unite 



. 



In Days of Knight and Villain 83 

the cities into one commonwealth, and formed 
an alliance with Edward. In his first public 
utterance he said, "It is necessary for ns to be 
friends with England, for without her we can- 
not live. ,, He added, "I do not mean that we 
should go to war with France. Our course is 
to remain neutral.' ' 

The combined English and Flemish fleets 
gained the great naval victory of Sluys over the 
French. The Great Brewer was made ruward, 
or conservator of the peace, of Flanders, and 
used his almost kingly power to strengthen the 
alliance with England and to favour the trade 
with that country. But he was too great a man 
for his time, and the traders of his native city 
were easily stirred by a trumped-up charge that 
he was plotting to deliver Flanders to the Black 
Prince. He met his death in 1345, at the hands 
of a mob, before his own doorway. 

The confederacy of Flemish towns still held 
together for a while. They assisted Edward in 
the siege and capture of Calais, and when he 
left them to their own resources, they compelled 
their young Count, Louis de Maele, to recognize 
their right to govern themselves, and still main- 
tained their independence of France. The 
wiles of Louis and the fierce hatred between 
Gantois and Brugeois once more plunged the 



CHAPTER V 

BATTLING FOR A KINGDOM 

JF more interest than Philip the Bold or 
jj^JH John the Fearless is the beautiful Jacque- 
line of Bavaria, who was married to 
John's nephew, John of Brabant. According to 
tradition, Jacqueline, heiress to the counties of 
Holland and Hainault, was the most charming 
and gifted woman of her day. John, Duke of 
Brabant, was in no respect her equal. He sub- 
jected her to endless indignities and persecu- 
tions, and she at last fled from Brussels to the 
court of Henry V of England, where she found 
protection. 

The assassination of John the Fearless by 
followers of the dauphin of France gave Bur- 
gundy and Flanders to his son Philip the Good. 
It was Philip's ambition to consolidate all the 
Belgic provinces under the rule of Burgundy, 
and thus to create a strong border state be- 
tween France and Germany, and he was not too 
scrupulous as to the means he used in attaining 
his end. He wrested from the unfortunate 

86 



Battling for a Kingdom 87 

Jacqueline first her county of Hainault, then 
the provinces of Holland and Zealand in the 
northern Netherlands. He also succeeded to 
the duchy of Brabant, and gained by purchase 
the duchy of Luxembourg. Having induced the 
Emperor to renounce his rights as overlord, 
Philip was now the head of an independent state 
nearly as large as the modern countries of Hol- 
land and Belgium. 

It was Philip the Good who summoned the 
Grand Council to administer the laws for all 
his Belgic territory. He often called together 
the States-General, composed of the nobles. 
From this was developed in time a parliament, 
in which sat representatives of the nobles, the 
gentry and the communes, these last being 
called the Third Estate. But with this* prog- 
ress toward consolidation, there was always one 
powerful disintegrating force at work — the lack 
of any bond of union between the towns. The 
jealousies of these little rival states kept them 
involved in continual petty warfare, and even 
restrained them from offering assistance to one 
another in the face of a common danger. A 
story drawn from the old chroniclers will fur- 
nish a picture of the times. 

In 1436, Philip led a large force of Flemings 
against the English stronghold of Calais, which 



The Spell of Belgium 



made a stubborn defense, and the besiegers lost 
many men in the encounters outside the walls. 
As the Dutch fleet, which had been relied upon 
to assist Philip by blockading the port, had not 
appeared, the English were abundantly sup- 
plied with provisions, while their enemies were 
almost at the end of their resources. The gar- 
rison was in the habit of pasturing its cattle out- 
side the ramparts under a strong guard, in de- 
fiance of the Flemings. One morning a large 
troop of Ghenters threw themselves upon a par- 
ticularly fine herd, and had already seized a 
part of it, when they found themselves caught 
in an English ambuscade and driven with the 
animals into the city itself. Their rivals, the 
Brugeois, encamped near by, took their time 
about offering assistance and were too late to 
be of any service. The Duke's following never 
interfered in these skirmishes, for which his 
permission was never asked. 

We catch a glimpse of the splendour of these 
Burgundian days in the contemporary descrip- 
tion of the Assembly of Arras, which met, the 
year previous to Philip's attempt on Calais, to 
conclude a peace between France and England. 
Here were ambassadors from England — among 
them Henry, Cardinal of Winchester, and Rich- 
ard, Earl of Warwick — envoys from Charles 



Battling for a Kingdom 89 

VII of France, from the Emperor, from the 
kings of Spain, Portugal, Sicily, Navarre, Den- 
mark and Poland, besides the legate from the 
Pope and the chief vassals and friends of Philip 
himself. Among the brilliant retinues that ac- 
companied and guarded these lords, that of the 
Bishop of Liege was singled out for mention. 
This prelate, one of the most powerful Belgic 
nobles, was surrounded by two hundred gentle- 
men dressed in dazzling white costumes and 
mounted on white horses. The Duke of Bur- 
gundy had a bodyguard composed of one hun- 
dred gentlemen and two hundred archers, who 
never left his side. 

This assembly was one of the largest in the 
fifteenth century. Fifty thousand visitors were 
entertained and ten thousand horses were taken 
care of for some weeks in the city. On the ar- 
rival of the French Embassy Philip went to 
meet them, accompanied by the Duchess Isa- 
bella, who rode in a magnificent litter, followed 
by several grandes dames richly dressed and 
mounted on beautiful gray palfreys. Before 
the sessions of this august council began, a 
brilliant tournament was celebrated, in which 
a Spaniard, Jean de Marie, was the victor. 
Then the lords repaired to the monastery of 
Saint- Vaast for their sessions. 



90 The Spell of Belgium 

It may be added that this assembly was un- 
able to make peace between France and Eng- 
land, the English refusing to withdraw the 
claim of Henry VI to the crown of France, and 
the French declining to accept any other terms. 

While the great cities of Flanders furnished 
by far the larger part of the Duke 's soldiery — 
it is said that Ghent, Bruges and Ypres could 
together have armed 100,000 men, had it been 
necessary, without arresting the course of their 
industries — they were often a most uncertain 
support, as the history of the same siege illus- 
trates. After weary weeks of waiting, the 
Dutch fleet at last appeared, but was soon dis- 
persed by English ships. At this juncture the 
Ghenters declared they were going home. In 
vain the Duke threatened and then entreated. 
Neither tears nor menaces could move them. 
"The trumpets sounded, the troops, with wav- 
ing banners, marched away. ' ' Scarcely had the 
Ghenters disappeared when the other Flemings 
followed their example, and the helpless Duke 
was forced to bring up the rear with his nobles. 

The Order of the Golden Fleece was estab- 
lished at Bruges by Philip the Good at the time 
of his marriage to Princess Isabella of Portu- 
gal. The Golden Fleece suggested the impor- 
tance of Bruges as the center of the trade in 



Battling for a Kingdom 91 

wool, while the story of Jason embodied the 
principles of chivalry. The first motto of the 
order was changed later to that of the honse of 
Burgundy — " Je l'ai emprins," (I have under- 
taken it). The organization was to consist of 
twenty-four knights besides the prince at its 
head, who were privileged to be tried only by 
the members of the order, thus being protected 
against despotic sovereigns as well as against 
the laws of their country. Philip II of Spain 
was the first to violate this privilege, in the exe- 
cution of Counts Egmont and Hoorn. In the 
eighteenth century, the order of the Golden 
Fleece was divided into two branches, those of 
Austria and Spain. 

Philip the Good, although a vassal of both 
France and the Empire, was from the central 
position of his provinces and the number of 
rich trading cities that they contained, more 
powerful than either the French king or the 
Emperor. His son and successor, Charles the 
Eash, called "the proudest, most daring and 
most unmanageable prince that ever made the 
sword the type and the guarantee of great- 
ness," seems to have coveted a domain that 
should include the whole of ancient Lotharingia, 
or the region watered by the Ehine, the Ehone 
and the Po, and even to have dreamed of in- 



90 The Spell of Belgium 

It may be added that this assembly was un- 
able to make peace between France and Eng- 
land, the English refusing to withdraw the 
claim of Henry VI to the crown of France, and 
the French declining to accept any other terms. 

While the great cities of Flanders furnished 
by far the larger part of the Duke's soldiery — 
it is said that Ghent, Bruges and Ypres could 
together have armed 100,000 men, had it been 
necessary, without arresting the course of their 
industries — they were often a most uncertain 
support, as the history of the same siege illus- 
trates. After weary weeks of waiting, the 
Dutch fleet at last appeared, but was soon dis- 
persed by English ships. At this juncture the 
Ghenters declared they were going home. In 
vain the Duke threatened and then entreated. 
Neither tears nor menaces could move them. 
"The trumpets sounded, the troops, with wav- 
ing banners, marched away. ' ' Scarcely had the 
Ghenters disappeared when the other Flemings 
followed their example, and the helpless Duke 
was forced to bring up the rear with his nobles. 

The Order of the Golden Fleece was estab- 
lished at Bruges by Philip the Good at the time 
of his marriage to Princess Isabella of Portu- 
gal. The Golden Fleece suggested the impor- 
tance of Bruges as the center of the trade in 



Battling for a Kingdom 91 

wool, while the story of Jason embodied the 
principles of chivalry. The first motto of the 
order was changed later to that of the honse of 
Burgundy — " Je l'ai emprins," (I have under- 
taken it). The organization was to consist of 
twenty-four knights besides the prince at its 
head, who were privileged to be tried only by 
the members of the order, thus being protected 
against despotic sovereigns as well as against 
the laws of their country. Philip II of Spain 
was the first to violate this privilege, in the exe- 
cution of Counts Egmont and Hoorn. In the 
eighteenth century, the order of the Golden 
Fleece was divided into two branches, those of 
Austria and Spain. 

Philip the Good, although a vassal of both 
France and the Empire, was from the central 
position of his provinces and the number of 
rich trading cities that they contained, more 
powerful than either the French king or the 
Emperor. His son and successor, Charles the 
Eash, called "the proudest, most daring and 
most unmanageable prince that ever made the 
sword the type and the guarantee of great- 
ness," seems to have coveted a domain that 
should include the whole of ancient Lotharingia, 
or the region watered by the Ehine, the Ehone 
and the Po, and even to have dreamed of in- 



92 The Spell of Belgium 

vading Italy. He spent his reign in a series of 
unsuccessful campaigns, in the last of which he 
lost his life, and left to his daughter Mary the 
heritage of a large state, composed of many 
principalities — little states surrounded by en- 
emies and with no bond of union among them- 
selves. 

Louis XI of France at once seized the Duchy 
of Burgundy, which was ever afterwards a part 
of the French dominion. The County of Bur- 
gundy with the Netherlands remained under 
Mary's rule. The towns were not slow in re- 
asserting their rights and recovering the 
privileges that had been wrested from them by 
the Burgundian princes. Mary married Maxi- 
milian of Austria, son of the Emperor Fred- 
erick III, and at her death, a few years later, 
left two children, Philip the Fair and Margaret 
of Austria. 

Philip espoused Joanna, daughter of Ferdi- 
nand and Isabella of Castile and Aragon, and 
became the father of Charles V. Then began 
that unfortunate connection with Spain which 
brought such misery to the Low Countries. 
Charles, who not only ruled the Netherlands and 
Austria, but was elected Emperor and King of 
Spain, governed his provinces of the Low Coun- 
tries with despotic sway. At one time the 



Battling for a Kingdom 93 

Ghenters incurred his wrath by rising against 
the payment of a war tax and even carrying on 
secret negotiations with Francis I, Charles's 
great rival. Francis basely betrayed them to 
Charles, who took possession of the city with a 
large army. Their leaders were beheaded, 
many citizens were exiled, and the guild chiefs 
and members of the council were brought be- 
fore the Emperor with halters about their necks 
and forced to sue for pardon. Henceforth no 
magistrate of Ghent was allowed to appear in 
public without wearing the halter. This sign of 
submission became the badge of the town, but 
in later years it was made of silk and worn as a 
decoration. The city lost its privileges and its 
great bell, Koland. At this time, too, the enor- 
mous citadel, called the Spaniards' Castle, was 
erected at Ghent by Charles's orders. The 
garrison of this stronghold was often, during 
the Spanish occupation of the country, of serv- 
ice in suppressing insurrections in Flanders. 

The Low Countries had never been more 
prosperous than at the accession of Philip II. 
With the vast increase in commerce had come 
great wealth and unexampled luxury. Ant- 
werp, which held the place formerly belonging 
to Bruges, was the richest city in Northern Eu- 
rope. It was said as much business was done 



94 The Spell of Belgium 

on the exchange of Antwerp in one month as on 
that of Venice in two years. Under the Bur- 
gundians music, architecture, painting, lace- 
making and tapestry were all brought to great 
perfection, and the University of Louvain was 
founded. One important advance in govern- 
ment under Charles V must be noted. A code 
of laws was formed from the customs that had 
grown up under the charters of the towns and 
the proclamations of the rulers. 

Philip II, who had been brought up in Spain, 
was a narrow-minded despot and bigoted Cath- 
olic, entirely without natural ties binding him 
to the Low Countries. He resided in the Neth- 
erlands only four years, at the end of that 
time making Margaret of Parma, his half-sis- 
ter, resident governant. The Ancienne Cour in 
Brussels was the seat of her Court. Philip, 
resenting the independence of the Belgians and 
determined to reduce them to abject submission, 
cunningly contrived a scheme of government for 
the provinces during his absence which left the 
balance of power in the hands of courtiers de- 
voted to his service. The convocation of the 
States-General was forbidden, and a violent 
persecution of heretics was commenced. An 
element of terror was added to the situation by 
the Spanish garrisons, who ravaged the coast 



Battling for a Kingdom 95 

provinces to obtain plunder in lieu of their long 
delayed pay. 

In order to safeguard the rights of the peo- 
ple and make peace between them and the King, 
a confederation was formed of the most power- 
ful nobles, led by the three greatest leaders in 
the Low Countries, William the Silent, Prince 
of Orange, and Counts Egmont and Hoorn. 
The confederates entered Brussels, where de 
Brederode, one of their leaders, gave a great 
banquet in their honour, at which three hundred 
guests were present. After long carousing, 
some one told how her advisers had handed 
Margaret their petition with the remark, "You 
have nothing to fear from such a band of beg- 
gars ( tas de Gueux) ..' ' As the leaders were then 
trying to decide upon a name for their confed- 
eracy, they at once adopted that of Gueux, and 
the toast, "Long Live the Gueux,' ' was drunk 
with riotous hilarity. Henceforth those who 
upheld the rights of the people and resisted the 
Inquisition were known as Gueux. 

Madame Vandervelde made a telling use of 
this rallying cry in one of her appeals in this 
country for the Belgian refugees. "Again,' ' 
she said, "the Belgian people are beggars, but 
they are glorious beggars ! ' ' 

This was the beginning of the forty years' 



96 The Spell of Belgium 

struggle for freedom that ended in the division 
of the United Netherlands. Philip, bent upon 
subjugating the people, replaced the Kegent, 
Margaret of Parma, by the infamous Duke of 
Alva. Backed by an army of Spanish veterans, 
the new governor levied ruinous taxes, laid 
waste cities and provinces, and carried out all 
the horrors of the Inquisition. Counts Egmont 
and Hoorn were beheaded in front of the Mai- 
son du Roi in the Grande Place of Brussels, and 
other leaders met the same fate. It was Alva's 
own boast that during his rule in the Nether- 
lands he sent eighteen thousand people to death 
by execution. 

Such barbarities as those committed at the 
capture of Haarlem roused the people to des- 
peration. The siege of this place lasted for 
seven months, and when it was taken by the 
Spaniards the Governor and the other magis- 
trates were beheaded, and twelve hundred of 
the garrison were either slaughtered or 
drowned in the lake. Before Alva's rule was 
ended, the northern provinces, chiefly Prot- 
estant, had rebelled against the Spanish crown. 
"When no other resource remained, the intrepid 
burghers cut the dikes, as they have done in 
Belgium today, and so forced the enemy to re- 
tire. 



Battling for a Kingdom 97 

Philip at last recalled the sanguinary Duke, 
and commissioned Eequesens to complete his 
task. But the conciliatory measures of the new 
governor came too late, and the war went on. 

After the death of Eequesens and before the 
arrival of his successor, Don John of Austria, 
the mutinous Spanish troops seized the citadels 
of Ghent, Antwerp, and Maestricht, and gave 
the towns over to pillage and destruction. In 
November, 1576, they were joined by other mu- 
tineers from Alost, and for three days the 
"Spanish Fury" raged in Antwerp. Even in 
the Low Countries such carnage and vandalism 
had never been known. When it ended the city 
was in ruins, and seven thousand of its citizens 
had been slain. 

A few days later, the delegates from the dif- 
ferent provinces, assembled at Ghent, under the 
leadership of Orange, issued the famous dec- 
laration known as "The Pacification of Ghent." 
This document proclaimed universal amnesty, 
the union of the provinces to expel all foreign- 
ers, the suspension of the edicts against heresy, 
liberty of worship, and the annulment of all con- 
fiscations and judgments of the ten years of 
warfare. The people seemed now to have taken 
a great stride toward freedom. 

The death of Don John in the following year 



98 The Spell of Belgium 

gave the command of the Spanish forces to 
Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma, one of 
the greatest generals of the age. 

The Walloons having practically gone over to 
the side of Spain, on account of their devotion 
to the Catholic religion, William of Orange 
saw that it was only the northern provinces 
upon which he could really depend, and formed 
the M Union of Utrecht." By this act the states 
now constituting the kingdom of Holland were 
bound together as a united and independent 
whole, each state to enjoy complete freedom of 
worship. They were soon joined by the towns 
of Antwerp, Ypres, Ghent and Bruges. 

After William the Silent was assassinated, in 
July, 1584, at the instigation of Philip, the 
United Provinces, though bereft of their leader, 
still held out against the power of Spain, but 
the cities that at first cast in their lot with them, 
were one by one reduced by siege, the last to 
surrender being Antwerp. In all the conquered 
territory the Protestant religion was absolutely 
proscribed, more than half the population went 
into voluntary exile in England and Holland 
rather than renounce their faith, and the coun- 
try was left desolate. 

A Belgian writer has described the condition 
of the land thus: "In vain might vestiges of 



Battling for a Kingdom 99 

the ancient prosperity of Belgium be sought. 
The Belgian ports were blockaded by the cruis- 
ers of Holland and Zealand. Persecution and 
exile had emptied the workshops. England 
gathered in the industry of our ruined cities. 
Amsterdam, Eotterdam and Middelburg in- 
herited the commerce of Antwerp and Bruges." 
At the end of Spanish rule in Belgium, it is 
said that, "with a foreign garrison established 
on its soil, and the principal part of the revenue 
assigned for its maintenance, there would have 
been nothing surprising had the Belgian race 
finally disappeared from the roll of na- 
tions.' ' 

At last Philip gave the command in the Low 
Countries to the Archduke Albert, son of Em- 
peror Maximilian II, who was to marry the In- 
fanta Isabella, and reign jointly with her over 
Burgundy and the Netherlands. Under their 
rule the country, from this time called Belgium, 
began to recover from the long wars. The 
sovereigns ruled with wise protection of com- 
merce and manufactures, and strove to build up 
the country. They were patrons of art, and by 
their influence Eubens was induced to make his 
home in Flanders. 

Until the peace of Utrecht, in 1713, Spain con- 
tinued to hold Belgium, on whose devoted soil 



100 The Spell of Belgium 

many a battle was fought. Sometimes Dutch 
and Spaniards were the combatants, again Bel- 
gians fought off the French. Through the 
whole second half of the seventeenth century- 
Belgium was the battlefield on which Europe 
strove against the ambition of Louis XIV, and 
again it was laid waste. 

In the course of these wars the French, in 
1695, bombarded Brussels with red-hot bullets. 
Sixteen churches and four thousand houses 
were burnt down, and the buildings on the 
Grande Place suffered greatly. 

Once more Belgium changed hands, and this 
time it passed under the sway of Austria. 
Prince Eugene, the great soldier, was made 
Governor-General of the Austrian Netherlands, 
but was too busy with his campaigns to reside in 
the country. His deputy was an able man, un- 
der whom business conditions improved and 
commerce increased, but he ruled with the iron 
hand of an Alva. The citizens of Brussels de- 
manded of him the Joyous Entry, and when 
he refused to observe the charter, riots broke 
out in Brussels, which were put down and pun- 
ished with all the rigours of Spanish rule. 

Under the Archduchess Marie Elizabeth, the 
Emperor's sister, who was Regent in Belgium 
for fifteen years, the commerce of the country 



Battling for a Kingdom 101 

increased to such an extent that the jealousy of 
England and Holland was aroused. 

The death of the Emperor was followed by 
the war of the Austrian Succession, in which 
Belgium was again invaded and overrun by 
France, and one city after another was taken 
by the victorious Marshal Saxe. This great 
general was the next governor, and he pro- 
ceeded to levy upon the people of Brussels the 
most extortionate taxes. The treaty of Aix-la- 
Chapelle soon put an end to his rule, however, 
and restored Belgium to Austria. 

It is a relief to read in the pages of Euro- 
pean history that for the next thirty-six years 
Belgium was peaceful and prosperous under 
another Austrian ruler, Prince Charles of Lor- 
raine. He was devoted to the interests of the 
country, and became so popular that the twenty- 
fifth anniversary of his government was cele- 
brated by a succession of brilliant fetes in the 
different provinces. 

The death of Prince Charles was almost im- 
mediately followed by that of Maria Theresa 
and the accession of Joseph II to her throne. 
Full of the new ideas in regard to human rights 
with which the eighteenth century was seething, 
and truly desirous of improving the condition 
of his subjects, he set to work to reform ecclesi- 



102 The Spell of Belgium 

astical conditions not only, but also the whole 
system of civil, and judicial administration. 
Conscious of the highest aims, Joseph stub- 
bornly persevered in his efforts at reform, with 
the result that his reign was marked by increas- 
ing strife in Belgium, culminating in a revolu- 
tion. In 1790 the rebels severed their connec- 
tion with Austria and formed a confederacy 
called the .United Belgian States. 

After a short and troubled existence of eleven 
months, .the new republic was invaded by an 
Austrian army, and submitted to Joseph's suc- 
cessor, Leopold II, who agreed to restore the 
ancient forms of government. But in 1749 the 
French Revolutionists, having declared war 
against Austria, proceeded to invade Belgium. 
Though these new conquerors came in the name 
of liberty, they also brought devastation and 
tyranny in their wake. The French, however, 
held the country until 1814. Napoleon's sway 
was despotic, but he carried out the reforms 
that Joseph II in vain tried to introduce, and 
made the organization of the government prac- 
tically what it is today. Perfect freedom of 
worship was established, and the control of 
education was given to the State. Foreign com- 
merce was destroyed, but great advances were 
made in agriculture and manufacture. 



Battling for a Kingdom 103 

As we all know, Napoleon returned from his 
banishment to Elba in March, 1815, and the 
Congress of Vienna, upon receiving the astound- 
ing news, declared that "neither peace nor 
truce was possible" with "the common enemy 
to the peace of the world. ' ' The death grapple 
of the campaign that he at once planned was 
to come upon Belgian soil. 

"At half -past three on the morning of June 
15, 1815, Napoleon's outposts crossed the fron- 
tier. On the evening of the 15th, Wellington 
attended the famous ball in Brussels, the best 
remembered social function, perhaps, in his- 
tory, at the Duchess of Richmond's house." 
This house has been pulled down, but the guides 
still point out the spot. While the dancing was 
going on, despatches were brought to the Duke, 
and he asked to see the map. On looking at it 
he exclaimed, "Napoleon has humbugged me. 
He has gained twenty-four hours ' march on me. 
I must fight him here. ' ' He put his nail on the 
map. The scratch that was left was "the first 
scar of Waterloo." 

"Amongst the dead on the field at Quatre 
Bras, were officers who still wore the pumps and 
silk stockings of the ball room." 

Ligny and Quatre Bras were fought on the 
16th, and Wellington's masterly retreat to 



104 The Spell of Belgium 

Waterloo occupied the following day. Then 
came that memorable June 18th, the story of 
which thrills us even today. French daring was 
matched with British tenacity. Wellington was 
perfect master of the situation, and — he knew 
Bliicher would come. But Napoleon had lost 
his grip. This was a day of hard fighting and 
terrible losses. 

"A little after seven o'clock Napoleon pre- 
pared to fling his last card on the iron table of 
the battlefield ; he would send forward his bear- 
skins, the Old Guard, the final bid for victory. ' ' 
This, too, was in vain. "The Guard gives 
way," was the cry that rose everywhere. The 
first column was retreating on La Belle Alli- 
ance, the second was being driven across the 
road to Brussels. From the woods near Hou- 
gomont, down the slopes below La Haye 
Sainte, the French fled in wild confusion. "At 
the same moment Napoleon saw his whole line 
of battle fall to pieces." 

"Napoleon in his flight crossed the battlefield 
of Quatre Bras. It was still strewn with the 
unburied slain, nearly four thousand corpses 
stripped quite naked by plunderers; and with 
what feelings Napoleon in the darkness of the 
night rode through those acres of the slain may 
be guessed. He drew rein for a moment in that 



Battling for a Kingdom 105 

field of the dead, and one who stood near him 
records how 'his face was pale as wax and the 
tears ran down his cheeks' — and thus across the 
useless battlefields of that terrible campaign 
Napoleon fled on his way to Paris — and beyond 
it to St. Helena.'' 1 

i From "The Great Duke." 



CHAPTER VI 

BELGIAN KINGS 

TRYING period of fifteen years followed 
the battle of Waterloo. The Congress 
of Vienna made Holland and Belgium 
one kingdom under the name of the United 
Netherlands. But this ill-advised union failed. 
The Dutch King, William I, was tyrannical and 
tactless, and ruled entirely in the interests of 
Holland. Although the population of Belgium 
was 1,500,000 more than that of the northern 
states of the Netherlands, four-fifths of the 
army officers and by far the larger part of the 
government officials were Dutch. Belgians 
were forced to pay the public debt of Holland, 
and the poorer classes, under the weight of in- 
tolerable taxes, faced starvation. They had 
fought too long for freedom to endure subjuga- 
tion. Only a little encouragement was needed 
to spur them on to action. 

The throng that was assembled in the Brus- 
sels Theatre de la Monnaie on the evening of 
the 25th of August, 1830, listened for a time 

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Belgian Kings 107 

quietly enough to Auber's new opera of "Mu- 
sette de Portia." But when the Italian tenor 
in a stirring solo made an appeal to his country- 
men to rise against foreign tyranny, the excite- 
ment of the audience could not be controlled. 
Springing to their feet, they caught up the 
words of the refrain and sang them over and 
over again. They rushed from the opera house 
into the street, still singing, 

"A mon pays je dois la vie, 
II me devra la liberie!" 

The revolution begun in this dramatic fashion 
continued until Belgium took its place as a na- 
tion among the European powers. The new 
Constitution made it one of the freest countries 
in the world, with representative government, 
freedom of the press, trial by jury, freedom of 
education, and complete religious tolerance. 
The family of Orange-Nassau was forever ex- 
cluded from the throne, and Prince Leopold of 
Saxe-Coburg was chosen king. 

Although a Protestant, Leopold proved an 
excellent king of a Catholic country, by his wis- 
dom and prudence tiding the nation over sev- 
eral political crises and firmly establishing the 
kingdom. While still prince, he had married 
Princess Charlotte, heir to the crown of Great 



108 The Spell of Belgium 

Britain. If she had lived, he would have be- 
come Prince Consort of England, but both the 
Princess and her only child died the following 
year. After assuming the crown of Belgium, 
Leopold formed an alliance with France by 
marrying Emilie Louise, daughter of Louis 
Philippe. 

Leopold's eldest child, a boy, died in baby- 
hood. The daughter, Charlotte, became the 
wife of the unfortunate Maximilian, whom Na- 
poleon III sent to establish a monarchy in Mex- 
ico during our Civil War. She accompanied 
him to Mexico, was crowned Empress at his side, 
and when the Mexicans rose against them, re- 
turned to Europe to seek aid. Maximilian was 
shot in her absence. At the news of his death 
she lost her reason, but she always remembers 
the fatal date, and shuts herself up in her 
chateau near Brussels and refuses to see any 
one on that day. She never forgets that she 
has been an Empress. In the first days of 
her madness she thought she was being poi- 
soned, but this fear was finally overcome and 
she was persuaded to eat by one of her favourite 
ladies-in-waiting. 

The third son of Leopold I was Philip, Comte 
de Flandre, father of King Albert. Philip died 
in 1905. It was the second son, Leopold II, who, 




LEOPOLD I. 



Belgian Kings 109 

in 1865, began a reign of nearly forty-five years. 
When only eighteen, he married the Arch- 
duchess Marie Henriette of Austria, a woman 
of many prejudices and peculiarities, who cared 
for little but horses and dogs. She did not ap- 
prove of tennis; she objected to Wagner. She 
was an invalid for many years, and it is chari- 
table to suppose that the King's lack of home 
life was accountable for some of the scandals 
associated with his name. 

Leopold's only son died before he was ten 
years old, but there were three daughters — 
Louise, who married Duke Philip of Saxe-Co- 
burg; Stephanie, who married Crown Prince 
Budolph of Austria; and Clementine, the wife 
of Prince Victor Napoleon. The marriage of 
Louise was most unfortunate, and she left her 
husband, who was said to be unkind to her. She 
has married several times since, and has con- 
tracted large debts. Stephanie's marriage was 
also unhappy, and ended in the mysterious 
death of her husband, who either took his own 
life or was murdered in his shooting lodge near 
Vienna. They had one son, who died in boy- 
hood. His death, as well as that of King 
Albert's elder brother, occurred in January, 
and it is for that reason that the Belgian royal 
family say that January always brings them ill 



110 The Spell of Belgium 

luck. Stephanie is now the wife of an Austrian 
Count, and I have heard that during this war 
she has become a nurse on the Austrian side. 
Clementine and her husband were living in 
Brussels at last accounts, and they have two 
sons. The King prevented this marriage for 
some years, as he felt it might make complica- 
tions with Eepublican France. While we were 
in Belgium, they very kindly received us. 

A charming French lady-in-waiting took us 
directly into the salon, where we saw a fine col- 
lection of Napoleonic relics. The Princess soon 
entered. We found her regal, with dark eyes 
and blonde hair. She struck us as a clever 
woman, with a good deal of power and dash. 
After a little while the Prince entered. He was 
good looking, of medium size, with dark hair 
and moustache and handsome eyes. We had 
a very pleasant half hour. 

With all the pageantry of Burgundian days, 
in a splendid procession of church dignitaries, 
troops, and officials of the Government, and sur- 
rounded by royalties, Leopold began his reign 
with a Joyous Entry into Brussels, and was 
duly presented with the keys of the city. The 
capital was his immediate care. His first 
speech from the throne was upon the subject 
of beautifying the city and improving its sani- 



Belgian Kings ill 

tary condition. It is said, ''He found Brussels 
a city of brick and left it a city of marble, ' ' that 
"he found a weak kingdom and left a strong 
one. ' ' 

Belgium had now a sovereign who was strong, 
both physically and mentally. He entered the 
Senate while still Due de Brabant, and was 
soon recognized as a thinker and orator. But 
before all else, he was an able man of business. 
He had the foresight and breadth of view of a 
statesman, with the financial ability and power 
to handle men that belong to a captain of in- 
dustry. He was interested in the construction 
of roads and tramway lines, in the extension of 
the canal system, and in measures for restoring 
Antwerp and Bruges, and other Belgian towns 
to their ancient position as queens of com- 
merce. 

In every way the King sought to develop the 
resources of his realm, and the marvelous pros- 
perity of the country before the present war 
broke out is proof that he succeeded. In ad- 
dressing the delegates of industry and com- 
merce, early in his reign, he said, "We have 
been the first on the Continent to construct rail- 
ways ; let us understand how to prolong them by 
lines of navigation. ' ' It was not many years 
before Belgian steamship lines were formed. 



112 The Spell of Belgium 

Under his rule the army was strengthened, and 
if he had been allowed to carry out his plans, 
the country would have had at least the nucleus 
of a navy. He had new forts built and the army 
increased. It was decided that the army was 
deficient in numbers and in quality. The lat- 
ter defect was owing to a system of recruiting 
which allowed any man called to the barracks 
by the ballot, who did not wish to serve, to find 
a substitute, who for a small sum of money, 
would take his place. The law doing away with 
substitutes in the army was one of the last 
signed by King Leopold before his death. 

An early riser and indefatigable worker, 
Leopold often summoned his attendants at five 
o'clock in the morning and remained at his desk 
until evening. All day long, a procession of or- 
derlies on bicycles, in swift succession, bore his 
orders from the study at Laeken, where he 
worked, to his secretary's office in Brussels. 

Although in the previous reign the two politi- 
cal parties, Clericals and Liberals, had fought 
some hard battles, the Liberals continued in 
power more or less for twenty years. The 
return of the Catholic party was effected in 
1884, and although their rule has been bitterly 
contested by the Opposition, they have held the 
reins of government for thirty years. 




LEOPOLD II. 



Belgian Kings 113 

While still Due de Brabant, Leopold traveled 
in Morocco and Tunis, and Algeria and Egypt, 
as well as in China. On his return he presented 
to the statesmen of Belgium a Grecian stone, on 
which he had inscribed, "II faut a la Belgique 
des Colonies." Ten years later, his dream of 
colonization began to be realized. 

At the Geographical Congress held in Brus- 
sels in September, 1876, which was attended by 
representatives from all the great Powers, the 
question of the suppression of the slave trade in 
Africa was discussed. Leopold wanted to open 
Africa to civilization, and records and letters 
of the time show that he was apparently quite 
sincere in wishing to suppress a traffic of un- 
speakable cruelty, carried on by Arabs and 
Portuguese adventurers of the worst type. 

The King's speech before the Congress con- 
tained the following words : 

"The Slave Trade, which still exists over a 
large part of the African continent, is a plague 
spot that every friend of civilization would wish 
to see disappear. If we succeed in establishing 
stations along the routes followed by the slave 
merchants this odious traffic will be wiped out. 
The stations, while serving as points for trav- 
elers, will powerfully contribute toward the 
evangelization of the blacks and toward the in- 



114 The Spell of Belgium 

troduction to them of commerce and modern in- 
dustry.' ' 

The most important result of the Conference 
was the formation of the International Associa- 
tion for the Suppression of the Slave Trade and 
the Opening of Central Africa. Leopold was 
made president, and it was due to his energy 
and wisdom that Belgium persevered in this un- 
dertaking. In answer to his appeal for money 
and men, men of good standing applied, and 
money poured in from his people — a little came 
from other countries — and his private fortune 
was freely spent in opening up the Dark Con- 
tinent. 

When Stanley returned to Europe in 1878, 
Leopold's agents met him at Marseilles and se- 
cured his services to conduct the work of the 
International Association on the Congo. In 
five years six expeditions were sent out, and 
many lives were lost. Stanley planted forty 
stations, and established a line of steamers on 
the river to connect with the caravan route 
from the coast. Stations were granted by 
chiefs in exchange for guns, coats and other 
articles that pleased their fancy. 

America was first to recognize the new State. 
At the Congress of Berlin, in 1884, it was rec- 
ognized by the great Powers, was declared open 



Belgian Kings 115 

to the commerce of all nations, and the slave 
trade was prohibited. Ten years later, the ex- 
tinction of the African slave trade was accom- 
plished. Baron Dhanis, with a large force of 
Belgian troops, conquered the Arab traders, 
and completely broke up their iniquitous traffic. 
By the decree of 1885 all " vacant' ' land in 
the Congo was declared the property of the 
State, but in reality it became the property of 
Leopold. Land was considered vacant when not 
actually occupied by buildings or cultivated for 
foodstuffs. Not until 1892, however, was this 
theory made the actual rule of administration. 
Before that time, in the words of the distin- 
guished Belgian Socialist leader, M. Vander- 
velde (whose wife has lately been lecturing in 
America in the cause of Belgian Relief), "The 
rights of the natives were recognized, not only 
over the land they cultivated, and over the land 
upon which they had built their habitations, but 
also over the forests which form the markets 
of their villages; the forests where, from 
time immemorial, they and their ancestors 
hunted the elephant and the antelope, collected 
palm oil and kernels, and gathered rubber either 
for the purposes of sale or for home use. Dur- 
ing that period the Congo State acted as sov- 
ereign and not as merchant." 



116 The Spell of Belgium 

To secure rubber now became, however, the 
single aim of the man who ruled the Congo. 
Three commissioners were appointed to enforce 
the "system"; a governor-general was selected 
and district commissioners were chosen. Un- 
der these governors of districts were native cap- 
tains, or "capitas." The agents in charge of 
these capitas were paid according to the amount 
of rubber collected, so most of them were un- 
scrupulous as to the means used in obtaining 
it. The capitas were also paid in proportion to 
the quantity of rubber they were able to squeeze 
from the natives, and they were so brutal that 
often whole villages rose up and killed them. 

From travelers, from missionaries, and 
finally from the British consul in the Congo 
came reports of the cruelties practised on the 
natives. In July, 1903, a memorable debate 
took place in the Belgian Chamber, in which M. 
Vandervelde and M. Lorand fiercely denounced 
the policy of Leopold in the Congo. 

M. Vandervelde began by saying he had 
never denied the greatness of the effort accom- 
plished by some of his compatriots in Africa. 
He went on to say that the object of the discus- 
sion was solely to learn if the Congo State had 
fulfilled its international obligations ; that Bel- 
gium had put fifteen million francs into the 



Belgian Kings 117 

Congo railway, had lent thirty-five million 
francs to the State : it had given money and men. 
Among other things, he emphasized that the 
commercial question was closely and insepara- 
bly linked to the question of the treatment of 
the natives. 

"The Congo State," said M. Lorand, "has 
not only become the greatest vendor of ivory 
and rubber in the world, but has been enabled 
with its surplus revenues to conduct enterprises 
in China and elsewhere, to purchase property in 
Belgium, and concessions at Hankow." 

Though there was no immediate result from 
the agitation in the Belgian House, the efforts 
of English reformers made it necessary to take 
some action in regard to the complaints. Leo- 
pold accordingly appointed a Commission of In- 
quiry, composed of a Belgian, an Italian and a 
Swiss, all able men. They went out to the 
Congo, where they examined a multitude of wit- 
nesses, and at the end of a year their conclu- 
sions were published. In this report they prac- 
tically reiterated — though in diplomatic lan- 
guage — all the charges of the reformers. 

Finally, in 1908, this vast African dependency 
was annexed to Belgium, which secured com- 
plete parliamentary control over the whole 
region. The next year, Prince, now King, 



118 The Spell of Belgium 

Albert and the Colonial Minister, M. Renkin, 
visited the Congo State, entering it from op- 
posite sides, and reform work was soon inaugu- 
rated. Forced labour was suppressed, pay- 
ments to the natives were made in money, and 
several zones were opened up to free trade. 
The African colony pays its own expenses to- 
day, but it contributes little money to Belgium. 
King Albert refused to receive an annuity from 
its revenues, and that money has been used as a 
pension fund for those who have served well in 
the Congo. 

In the early days many Belgians went to the 
Congo to escape debt ; today, they pass examina- 
tions, and, if fitted for the positions, are given 
good salaries. As the climate is very trying 
for whites, and the deadly sleeping sickness still 
exists, carried by the tsetse fly, the number of 
Belgians there, from latest accounts, is only one 
thousand six hundred. This includes over three 
hundred priests. No men from the larger coun- 
tries of Europe are wanted in the service of the 
State, but there are some fifty Swedes, Ameri- 
cans, Swiss and Italians among the officials. 
The justices of the courts are of mixed na- 
tionality, but the most important civil and mili- 
tary positions are kept for Belgians. 

Boma, the capital of the Congo State, is now 




KING ALBERT. 



Belgian Kings 119 

a flourishing town, with several hundred Euro- 
pean houses, a Governor's palace, the Palace of 
Justice, and other government buildings, both 
Protestant and Catholic churches, a Eed Cross 
hospital, and a telegraphic service to the in- 
terior. 

A large part of Leopold's revenue from the 
Congo was expended in beautifying Brussels 
and doing over both the royal palaces. The 
Congo Museum, with its fine park and drives, 
the Colonial School, and the Cinquantenaire 
Museum, erected to commemorate fifty years of 
Belgian nationality, with its splendid Arch of 
Triumph, were all built by this means. 

Leopold's long reign came to an end in 1909. 
His nephew, Prince Baudouin, who should have 
succeeded him, died suddenly, so, as women do 
not inherit, the crown descended to Baudouin 's 
brother Albert. As I have said, Albert's father 
was Philip, Comte de Flandre, the younger 
brother of Leopold, and his mother was Marie- 
Louise-Alexandrine-Caroline, of Hohenzollern- 
Sigmaringen. 

King Albert was born in his father's palace 
in Brussels, on April 8, 1875. He has the best 
of French and German blood, that of the Or- 
leans and the Saxe-Coburgs. It is said he re- 
sembles his grandfather, Leopold I. His sister 



120 The Spell of Belgium 

Josephine is the wife of Prince Charles of 
Hohenzollern, a cousin of the Kaiser, and his 
other sister, Henriette, married the Due de 
Vendome. Prince Charles, who was fair, with 
a pointed beard, was bright and amusing when 
we met him ; his wife, although very handsome, 
was a little deaf. The Duchesse de Vendome 
was distinguished looking, tall and blonde, like 
her brother, and the Duke, although rather 
short, was most attractive. 

Albert's boyhood was spent quietly in study 
and outdoor life on his father's estate at Cierg- 
non. He went through the usual preparation 
for military service under the supervision of 
General Jungbliith, then Chief of Staff of the 
Belgian army. From the moment he became 
heir to the throne, he set to work to prepare him- 
self for the high position. He studied political 
economy with M. Waxweiler, a distinguished 
member of the Liberal party, who was at the 
head of the Sociological Institute. That he 
might not be one-sided in his opinions, he be- 
came the pupil of two Catholic priests, one a 
Jesuit of notable courage and fairness, the other 
a Dominican friar. And, finally, it was from 
Baron Lambremont, one of the greatest of Bel- 
gian diplomats, that he learned the difficult art 
of dealing with governments. 



Belgian Kings 121 



Even before the present war, the King's me- 
chanical tastes led him to take a deep interest in 
the problems of engineering construction, of 
shipbuilding and of aviation. While traveling 
in this country in 1898, he is said to have studied 
American railways under the tutelage of Mr. 
James J. Hill, and ten years later, to have gone 
to Great Britain incognito in order that he 
might become familiar with conditions in the 
shipyards there. Finally, he is known as a 
skilful and daring chauffeur. 

In view of this fact, the well known journalist, 
Major Seaman, shortly returned from Belgium, 
told me the story was true that King Albert 
(accompanied only by his chauffeur) when mo- 
toring one day from one part of the lines to an- 
other, noticed that they were taking the road 
toward the German trenches. He directed the 
man to change his course, but soon found they 
were still going in the wrong direction. After 
a second order had proved unavailing, the King 
shot the chauffeur and himself drove the car to 
his destination, thus defeating an attempt to be- 
tray him into the hands of the Teutons. The 
money given to the traitor by the Germans was 
found on his body. 

The Brussels Exposition was held the year 
after Albert became King. With his usual con- 



122 The Spell of Belgium 

scientiousness, the King not only attended in- 
numerable congresses that were held in Brussels 
that year, but personally entertained the dele- 
gates at the royal palace ; and, with all this, he 
is said to have found time to visit, with the 
Queen, every exhibit in every section of the Ex- 
position. 

Even before the present war, he was known 
as "The People's King," and during this war 
he has shown himself a man and leader, this 
hero King, whose name will be honoured 
through the centuries. Queen Elizabeth, too, 
has their hearts' devotion. "Queen Elizabeth 
is over there with King Albert in the midst of 
the righting troops. From town to town, from 
camp to camp, from trench to trench she goes. 
She inspires the living, she consoles the dying; 
she smiles upon them, she binds up their 
wounds. There she is, so gentle, so pitying, in 
that Flemish land, that sad Country wrapped in 
heavy mist, a gray winding sheet softly falling 
over so many rigid shrouds. Queen errant, but 
more a Queen than ever has been the consort of 
the most puissant King, she symbolizes her 
Country, that Country which is so gashed and 
wounded, but which will not die. Far from 
proud cities and sumptuous palaces, she goes to 
the soldiers fallen beneath the leaden rain, and 




QUEEN ELIZABETH. 



Belgian Kings 123 

as she passes near them the eyes of the dying 
are lifted up to her for a last look, a last 
tear." 1 

" The Crown Prince, although only thirteen 
years old, is in the Belgian army. The Queen 
entered a meek protest against her husband's 
taking their son to the front, but he answered, 
"I have him with me to teach him how serious 
a thing it is to be a King. ' ' 

In an interview with Mr. Hall — a journalist 
whom I met at the Belgian Legation in Wash- 
ington, — one of the most striking things King 
Albert said was this : 

"This war was unavoidable. It had been 
postponed several times within the last few 
years, and if it had not been for England's ef- 
forts it would have come at the time of the last 
Balkan crisis. Germany had been piling on arm- 
ament for years, had been building up a war ma- 
chine so perfect and so powerful that at a given 
time it was bound to start itself. When you 
have built a monster ship, you cannot continue 
piling on weight all the time, or the day will 
come when the vessel will slip off the ways of 
her own accord. This thing has happened in 
more than one shipyard. 

"When the crisis came I had hopes that the 

i Eoland de Maris (Le Temps) . 



124 The Spell of Belgium 

protection of international treaties would be 
sufficient to protect Belgium, but in any case 
there was no question as to what the Belgian 
people would do. The violation of our territory 
united every faction, and although we were 
taken by surprise we did our best and offered 
what resistance we could/ ' 

Mr. Hall writes: " After the defense of 
Liege King Albert took the field with his army 
and fought back all the way to Antwerp. He 
led both the sorties from Antwerp in person, 
and fought with the rear guard that covered 
the retreat of his army to the Yser. ' ' 

The Germans drove the Belgian army from 
one position to another until only a strip of Bel- 
gium was left. "The King continued to fight 
in the bogs and marshes of western Flanders, 
still undaunted, still defiant, still calm and 
serene. ' ' 

An Englishman asked a Belgian soldier if 
King Albert was beloved. The answer was, 
"No, Monsieur, he is not beloved. . . . Before 
the war he was beloved — today he is adored." 

Emile Verhaeren wrote in King Albert's 
book : "At this moment you are the one King 
in the world whose subjects, without exception, 
unite in loving and admiring him with all the 
strength of their soul. This unique fate is 



Belgian Kings 125 

yours, sire. No leader of men on earth has had 
it in the same degree as you. 

' ' In spite of the immensity of the sorrow sur- 
rounding you, I think you have a right to re- 
joice, the more so as your consort, Her Majesty 
the Queen, shares this rare privilege with you. 

" Sire, your name will be great throughout the 
ages to come. You are in such perfect sym- 
pathy with your people that you will always be 
their symbol. Their courage, their tenacity, 
their stifled grief, their pride, their future great- 
ness, their immortality all live with you. Our 
hearts are yours in their very depths. Being 
yourself, you are all of us. And this you will 
remain. ' ' 



CHAPTER VII 

POLITICS AND PLURAL VOTING 

))ELGIAN politics had a peculiar fascina- 
ation for me from the first. It began 
perhaps with my amazement at their sys- 
tem of plural voting, which was different from 
anything of which I had ever heard. But the 
more I learned of the various issues and parties, 
the stronger the spell became. The little coun- 
try was working very hard trying to solve its 
many problems, and was so fearless and origi- 
nal in some of the methods it used that you 
could not help but admire its pluck and spirit. 
To any casual traveler it must have seemed 
that the country was divided against itself. It 
had two languages, one based on French, the 
other a Low German dialect, and the people 
themselves were of two different races. The 
Walloons have Latin blood, while the Flemings 
are of Teutonic ancestry. In spite of all this, 
they lived together in peace for many years, and 
during the past year have stood shoulder to 
shoulder against their common enemy. 
Another extraordinary thing about political 

126 



Politics and Plural Voting 127 

conditions there was, that while ninety-nine per 
cent, of the people were Koman Catholics, So- 
cialism flourished. That these two bitterly op- 
posed organizations should both grow strong in 
the same soil was even more surprising — on the 
surf ace — than the bi-lingual and bi-racial patri- 
otism of the country. 

"Thanks to Belgium's very advanced capi- 
talistic development, ' ' said M. Vandervelde in 
this connection, "it constitutes a curious labora- 
tory of social experiment. ' ' 

The Clerical party had been in power twenty- 
eight years when we were there, and the diplo- 
mats rarely came in contact with the members 
of any other faction. I do remember seeing a 
big Socialist parade, held on the first of May; 
it was made up, apparently, of quiet and or- 
derly men. On the other hand, the country 
seemed to swarm with priests. In addition to 
those who lived there, many thousands had come 
in a few years before when they left France. 

There were practically only two political par- 
ties : the Clerical, which was the conservative or 
Church party, and the Liberal, which was 
closely allied with the Socialists and Democrats. 
The members of these last three factions formed 
indeed a coalition, or "bloc," which frequently 
contrived to check the work of the opposition, 



128 The Spell of Belgium 

despite the fact that they had but eighty repre- 
sentatives to the Clericals' eighty-six. This 
coalition had been gaining steadily for the past 
twelve years. 

The national assembly was composed of a Sen- 
ate and a Chamber of Deputies, both of which 
were, in the main, elective. The former had 
102 members who served eight years without 
pay, except a railroad pass. The lower house 
had 166 members who served four years and 
received, not only a railroad pass, but $800 a 
year besides. 

Belgium was divided into nine provinces, 
whose governors were appointed by the King, 
just as the governors of our territories are ap- 
pointed by the President. These provinces 
were subdivided into 342 cantons, much like 
our counties, and these again into over two thou- 
sand communes. Every two years the country 
voted in sections for half of each house. A ma- 
jority of the five Flemish provinces went Cler- 
ical, while the four Walloon districts went Lib- 
eral. 

Every man old enough to do so was compelled 
by law to go to the polls and cast his vote or 
votes when election day arrived. If for any 
reason he was absolutely unable to go, he must 
send a written explanation of his absence. 



Politics and Plural Voting 129 

Belgium's novel method of voting was 
adopted some twenty-odd years ago, as a com- 
promise between the existing property qualifica- 
tion and the equal suffrage which the Social- 
ists were demanding. Like most compromises, 
it was not wholly satisfactory to any one. Up 
to the time when the war turned the attention 
of the people to more important matters than 
politics it was the cause of a great deal of con- 
troversy. But as conditions stood in 1893, the 
system of plural voting was a masterpiece of 
diplomacy, for each of the three parties — Cler- 
ical, Liberal and Socialist — had its own ideas as 
to the sort of persons who should be granted the 
ballot, and of course no two agreed as to the 
necessary qualifications. 

The Clericals wished to have the franchise 
granted on the basis of occupation and prop- 
erty ; the Liberals thought it should be bestowed 
on all who were sufficiently educated to use the 
power intelligently; the Socialists, however, in- 
sisted upon universal suffrage for men and 
women alike, without preference or favour. 

The Clericals got their wish outright — prop- 
erty and professional rights were recognized 
generously. The Liberals also got what they 
wanted — a vote for every man with a college 
education. The Socialists got half of their de- 



130 The Spell of Belgium 

mands, which was all that they could reasonably 
have expected at a time when votes for women 
were not being widely advertised. 

But of the three parties, only the first has 
shown any measure of satisfaction with the ar- 
rangement, for plural voting plays into the 
hands of the Church. Indeed, the only hope of 
the Clerical party was said to lie in its main- 
tenance, while the great hope of the Liberal wing 
lay in its overthrow. 

Briefly, the system of plural voting is this: 
Every male citizen of Belgium who had reached 
the age of twenty-five years was qualified to 
cast — and by law must cast — one vote. Every 
man of thirty-five who had children and paid at 
least $1 a year income tax, might cast two 
votes, while those without children could get this 
second vote if they had real estate amounting to 
$400, or $20 a year income from state securities. 
Any man who had filled a public position, who 
had a profession, or who held a college diploma, 
was entitled to a third vote, or to two in addi- 
tion to his first manhood suffrage. This third 
vote could also be obtained by a property quali- 
fication. No one might have more than three 
votes in all. 

This was the way it would work out in an 
individual case : A workman at twenty-five re- 



Politics and Plural Voting 131 

ceives one vote. He marries, becomes the head 
of a family, and at thirty-five receives a second 
vote. Then, if he buys a house — even if it is 
mortgaged — he gets a third. It can easily be 
seen how such a system might encourage thrift 
and industry, and even responsible citizenship. 

Indeed, on the face of it, this system of plural 
voting seems nearly ideal. A writer in the 
Contemporary Review seriously advocated its 
adoption in England. It has the advantage of 
putting the weight of power on the educated 
classes, while still giving to every man some 
share in the government. Our own "one man, 
one vote" appears rather crude and arbitrary 
by contrast with this carefully graded elec- 
torate. 

For all that, it did not work out very well in 
practice. The educated upper classes were not 
always disinterested, and they were nearly al- 
ways conservative. Poor men are naturally 
adventurous when they see a chance for gain, 
but when comfortable they are more and more 
inclined to hang back, reluctant to risk their 
present comfort for any hazardous improve- 
ment. The story of a young captain of militia 
who got separated from his company in a strike 
riot and cried — "Where are my men? I am 
their leader — I must follow them! ,, illustrates 



132 The Spell of Belgium 

this point. There was a lively agitation for 
electoral reform while we were there. 

At the root of much of the political strife was 
the question of schools. Should the Church 
share with the State in the education of the chil- 
dren, or should the public schools be purely secu- 
lar? 

The coalition of liberal parties demanded for 
every child up to fourteen years of age a com- 
pulsory education, which must be followed by 
two years of training along some technical line. 
They insisted, moreover, that every commune 
should be bound to provide adequate schools, 
from which both religion and politics must be 
barred. Although they never achieved this, the 
steady gain of the coalition in recent years has 
been attributed to their stand in educational 
matters. 

The Belgian Constitution provides for two 
kinds of schools, State and "free." The latter, 
corresponding to private schools in our coun- 
try, were not under Government control, and 
were, indeed, generally under the manage- 
ment of the clergy. Prior to 1878 the Church 
had also, step by step, gained a certain amount 
of influence in the State schools, but in that year 
the Liberals came into power and suppressed 
clerical inspection. As a result of this, six 



Politics and Plural Voting 133 

years later, the Liberals went down to defeat 
and did not regain their power. From that time 
on, the curriculum of the State schools included 
religious instruction, although it was not com- 
pulsory. 

It seems strange now to remember that only 
a very short time ago one of the burning issues 
in Belgium was militarism. Then they were 
facing much the same question which is before 
us today in this country: Should they have a 
large standing army, with all the burden of serv- 
ice and taxation that it entailed, or should they 
try the system in use in Switzerland! There 
every man is equipped, and drilled for a short 
time each year, but there is only a very small 
regular army. The Belgians compromised by 
blocking up all the entrances to their country by 
means of strong fortifications, with the idea that 
no invader would gain enough by crossing their 
territory to make it worth the trouble. If they 
had had the army too, the story might have had 
a somewhat different ending. 

The year that we were there, there was much 
fear as to the result of the elections. The talk 
was such as to make you feel that the end of the 
world was at hand if the Clericals failed to win, 
and that if they did win, there would surely be 
a revolution. Our own papers had greatly ex- 



134 The Spell of Belgium 

aggerated accounts of the trouble in Brussels 
following the elections, with stories of sieges 
and revolutions and all kinds of violence. But 
although the riots themselves amounted to little, 
they were of such significance as a part of the 
general social and political unrest throughout 
the world that I insert an account of them here. 

The general elections were held in Belgium on 
Sunday, the second of June, 1913, and resulted 
in the maintenance in power of the clerical con- 
servative Government. The dissolution had 
been brought about by the gradually diminish- 
ing majority of the Clericals in Parliament till 
they had kept themselves in office by an excess 
in the Chamber of Deputies of only six votes. 

It was expected that the elections would be 
very close, owing to the alliance which had been 
formed for this campaign between the two oppo- 
sition parties of Liberals and Socialists. It was 
the surprise of the election that the returns for 
the new Parliament showed a substantial gain 
for the party in power. It seemed that the 
Clericals had come back from the country with 
a majority of sixteen in the Chamber, while in 
the Senate their supremacy was also main- 
tained. 

An explanation of these gains was afterwards 
found in the defection of many Liberals at the 



Politics and Plural Voting 135 

last moment because they feared the alliance 
with the Socialists and preferred, after all, as 
the lesser of the two evils, the Clerical minis- 
try, such as Belgium had prospered under for 
nearly thirty years. Liberal officers of the 
army could not bear alliance with the anti- 
monarchical party, moreover, and the high 
finance and commerce — the Liberal bourgeoisie 
— feared radical changes. 

The defeated parties raised the cry of cor- 
ruption, and of the advantage which the plural 
vote gave the government forces, since it was 
the educated and official classes and the rural 
population which benefited by the allowance of 
a second or third vote. Afterwards a more 
active campaign than ever was waged in favour 
of the "one man, one vote" suffrage by those 
out of power. Throughout the rural communi- 
ties the Clericals developed a well-organized 
machine in the "Boerenbonden," or agricultural 
syndicates, which might have been subventions 
of the Government but were generally in the 
hands of the priests. 

A more immediate result of the conclusive 
character of the elections was that many of the 
demonstrations that were feared in case of a 
close vote lapsed through lack of heart and of 
excuse for agitation. The Government had ex- 



136 The Spell of Belgium 

pressed a determination to maintain the peace, 
and troops were held in readiness in their bar- 
racks; civil gnards were also ordered under 
arms during certain hours of the day when trou- 
ble was especially likely, and were bivouacked 
in the parks and the courts of public buildings, 
as evidence to the people of serious preparations 
for the repression of disorder. 

There were small riots in Brussels, resulting 
in a few wounds and arrests, but these seem to 
have been more or less formal, and the work of 
the rougher element. In some of the other 
cities, especially in the industrial parts of Bel- 
gium, and in the Borinage, or colliery district, 
there were disorders and strikes more or less 
serious. In Liege there was a riot with several 
deaths resulting. 

But everywhere the result of the election was 
accepted more quietly than had been feared. 
The leaders of the defeated parties showed self- 
control and attempted to restrain their follow- 
ing, so that the rioting and strikes were more 
the result of the excitement of the masses, w T ho 
were taking advantage of the excuse which poli- 
tics always gives for breaking out into disorder, 
than of agitation with any immediate political 
effect in view. 

The Premier of the continued Government 




BARON DE BROQUEVILLE. 



Politics and Plural Voting 137 

was Baron de Broqueville, an astute and moder- 
ate man. But there were able and fanatic ele- 
ments in the Clerical party which it was feared 
might try to force legislation, especially in the 
matter of education. This would prove such an 
aggravation to the more liberal thinkers in the 
country as to lead to further disorders. 

But when the war broke, all differences of 
opinion were forgotten, and every man, Clerical 
or Socialist, gave himself without reserve to the 
common cause of his country 's need. Baron de 
Broqueville and M. Vandervelde worked side by 
side in the Cabinet. The Government was 
moved from Brussels to Antwerp, as the in- 
vaders drew near, and on again from Antwerp 
to Ostend and later to Havre. But in the nar- 
row strip of Belgian soil which still remains, 
the King and his Ministers daily share the same 
dangers and hardships, and toil for the same 
end. For the time at least, party differences 
have been forgotten in a cause immeasurably 
greater. 



CHAPTER VIII 

Belgium's workshops 

j)ELGIUM was slightly larger than the 
State of Massachusetts, yet she ranked 
eighth among the nations in wealth, and 
sixth in commerce. Antwerp was one of the 
five great ports of the world, with more dock- 
room than New York. 

Several favouring conditions enabled her to 
compete so successfully with her big neighbours. 
Rivers and canals gave her inland cities easy 
access to the sea. Much of the raw material for 
her foundries and factories was to be found 
within her own boundaries, while fuel for her 
engines was furnished cheaply by her own 
mines. Most important, perhaps, labour was 
abundant, low of cost, and highly skilled. In 
her people really lay Belgium's greatest 
strength, for they are hardy and thrifty, and 
peculiarly skilled as mechanicians. 

They used to say that while France furnished 
mankind with their luxuries, Belgium supplied 
them with their necessities. But this is not 

138 



Belgium's Workshops 139 

wholly true, for the smaller country is cele- 
brated for its exquisite lace and superb tapes- 
tries, while the gardens of Ghent raised orchids, 
azaleas and camellias for the flower-markets of 
France, Germany, England and even America. 

These were the exports of Belgium, in the 
order of their importance : coal, iron, steel and 
zinc; firearms; glass; cement; ceramics; cot- 
ton, wool and flax ; furniture and lace. 

The centers of the metal, coal and glass in- 
dustries were in the Walloon districts, espe- 
cially in Charleroi and Liege, while the textile 
centers were, for the most part, in Flanders. 

The story of how coal was first discovered in 
Belgium has been told a thousand times, but 
rarely, I think, in America. It seems that in a 
village not far from Liege there lived — some 
seven hundred years ago — a poor blacksmith 
named Houllos. One day he found himself 
quite out of money. He could not work to earn 
more, because he had no wood to heat his forge. 
While he sat bewailing his fate a mysterious 
stranger appeared and asked the cause of his 
woe. When he had heard the mournful story, 
' i Take a large sack," said he, "and go to the 
Mountain of the People. There you must dig 
down three feet into the earth. You will find a 
black, rocky substance, which you must put into 



140 The Spell of Belgium 

the sack and bring home. Break it up, and burn 
it in your forge." This is the reason why, in 
Belgium, coal still bears the name of huille, in 
memory of the blacksmith of Liege. Some 
think the stranger was an Englishman, since 
coal was already in use in London. But tradi- 
tion has insisted that ange and not Anglais, is 
the proper word, and that Houllos entertained 
an angel. 

Near Mons are the great mounds of slag 
which were begun in the earliest times and look 
today not unlike the pyramids of Egypt. What- 
ever the origin of the mining industry in Bel- 
gium, there is nothing idyllic about the condi- 
tions there in modern times. The coal region 
of the Borinage is known as Le Pays Noir, and 
it certainly deserves the name. 

The miners are called Borains, or coal-borers. 
"They live both on the earth and in the earth, 
delving amid the black deposits of vast primeval 
forests.' ' Owing to their former long hours, 
which have been somewhat shortened in late 
years, the present generation is dwarfish, the 
men often under five feet and the women still 
less. Most of them cannot read or write, and 
they have little pleasure save what comes from 
beer. (More beer was sold per head in Bel- 
gium than even in Germany.) Of the hundred 



Belgium's Workshops 141 

and twenty-five thousand miners in the coun- 
try, three-quarters belonged to Hainault. 

There are in all over a hundred coal mines in 
Belgium, the area of those that were worked 
amounting to over ninety thousand acres, and 
of those not worked to forty thousand more. A 
new coal field has been discovered in the north 
but has not been exploited as yet. Although the 
home consumption was steadily increasing, and 
averaged nearly three tons per capita, large 
amounts were exported to France and Holland. 
It was sold at a closer margin than in any other 
of the mining countries. 

Mining was commenced on the out-crops eight 
or nine hundred years ago, but it was only when 
steam-engines were invented that the miners 
were able to reach the deeper parts of the coal 
measures, and the yield was greatly increased. 

Firearms have been manufactured in Liege 
since midway in the fourteenth century. The 
first portable arms were the cannon and hand- 
gun, both adjusted to very heavy, straight butt- 
ends and very difficult to handle. They were 
loaded with stones, lead or iron balls. The mus- 
ket and arquebus came later, and had match- 
locks, an idea suggested by the trigger of the 
crossbow. 

The first exporters of Liege arms were nail- 



142 The Spell of Belgium 

dealers, who possessed from immemorial times 
commercial relations with the most distant coun- 
tries. After the invention of the flint-lock in 
the seventeenth century the gun trade made 
rapid progress. The number of workmen be- 
came enormous. The superiority of Liege arms 
was recognized all over the world, and the gun- 
workmen received offers of high salaries to in- 
duce them to go to France, England, Germany 
and Austria. Several of them were engaged to 
work at the Royal Manufactory of Arms at 
Potsdam. Much of the best work was done at 
the worker's own house, and in order to prevent 
any decline in the individual skill of the men to 
whom Liege owed so much of its fame, the union 
of manufacturers of arms created a profes- 
sional school of gunnery, where they could be 
specially trained. In this way they hoped to 
avoid the danger that the facility which ma- 
chinery gives the workman would cause him to 
lose interest in his hand-work at home, which 
requires such varied knowledge and ability. 

Cotton spinning was one of the most impor- 
tant textile industries. Over a million spindles 
were employed, most of them in the two prov- 
inces of Hainault and Brabant, and in the city 
of Ghent. Most of the cotton came from Amer- 
ica and Egypt. 



Belgium's Workshops 143 

Verviers, in Liege, was the center of the wool- 
spinning industry. Here again the superior 
skill of the artisans established the reputation 
of the Belgian article. Most of the wool came 
from Australia and the Cape. 

For its flax spindles, however, Belgium raised 
its own material. The flax of Courtrai was con- 
sidered the best in all Europe. More than half 
the finished thread was exported to England. 
The abundance of this material doubtless led to 
the early development of lace-making, for which 
the women of the country became so famous. 

Flanders claims to be the birthplace of pillow- 
lace — dentelles aux fuseaux — and disputes with 
Italy the invention of lace generally. In earlier 
times drawn or cut work was often confused 
with lace, as was embroidery of one sort or an- 
other, and for this reason it is difficult to trace 
the art definitely back to its beginning. Orna- 
mental needlework was done in Old Testament 
days, for Isaiah mentions those who "work in 
fine flax and weave networks." But real lace- 
making — the interweaving of fine threads of 
flax, cotton, silk, of silver, gold or hair, to form 
a network — did not appear till the time of the 
Renaissance, when all the arts of Europe awoke 
to life. In a chapel at St. Peter's, in Louvain, 
was an altar-piece painted in 1495 by Quentin 



144 The Spell of Belgium 

Matsys, which showed a girl making lace on a 
pillow like those still in use to this day. 

The manufacture of lace began in Brussels 
about the year 1400. The city excelled from 
the first in the quality of the work done there. 
This was due to the fineness of the thread of 
Brabant, which the women spun inch by inch 
with such painstaking care that it defied compe- 
tition. A pound of flax was sometimes trans- 
muted into lace worth several thousand dol- 
lars. 

The lace industry was the only one in Flan- 
ders which survived the upheavals of the six- 
teenth century. Its prosperity alone tided the 
distracted people over their difficulties and 
saved them from the ruin which threatened. 
The women plodded on at their slow task, hour 
after hour, thread after thread, for a pitiful few 
cents a day, and never knew that they had saved 
their country. "They are generally almost 
blind before thirty years of age," wrote an early 
chronicler. 

The women of Belgium have always been spe- 
cially adept with the needle, and it may be that 
the rainy weather so prevalent there had some- 
thing to do with the development of this indoor 
industry. Certainly lace-making is — or was, 
until very recently — practised in all the prov- 



Belgium's Workshops 145 

inces except Liege, and in some districts it could 
be said that every woman, young or old, handled 
the bobbins or the needle. It was, indeed, the 
national industry. 

As a rule, the women worked to order and by 
contract, and were paid by the piece. The lace, 
when finished, was handed over to the local mid- 
dleman, who, in turn, sold it to the contractors 
in the cities. The children learned the art from 
their mother or — more often — from the nuns in 
the various convent schools. They would enter 
these schools when six or eight years old, and 
often remained there till their marriage. The 
nuns did much to keep up the ancient traditions 
of the art, and even in their convents in the Far 
East today they make a point of teaching the 
native children to copy European laces. 

There are two kinds of lace, point and pillow. 
The former is made with a needle, and its char- 
acteristic feature is the "set-off " of the flowers. 
The needle laces of Belgium are divided into 
Brussels point, Brussels applique, Venice, rose 
and Burano points. 

Several classes of workers are needed for each 
piece — those who make the openwork orna- 
ments and the flowers, and those who apply 
them on to the background, a very delicate 
task. Brussels point is the finest example of 



146 The Spell of Belgium 

this form of lace, and indeed of any lace made 
in Belgium at the present time. The designs 
are very elaborate, with the flowers often in 
relief. Modern Brussels point is, however, 
too frequently an imitation, with flowers sewn 
on to a machine-made net that is often rather 
coarse, while the application is done by unskilled 
fingers. 

Of pillow lace there are many kinds, and their 
chief characteristic is the outline of the design. 
The lace is made on a cushion or pillow which 
stands on a frame, with little spools or bobbins 
for the threads, and pins for fixing the lace on 
the pattern. 

The best kinds of pillow lace are duchess, 
Mechlin, and Valenciennes. " Valenciennes the 
eternal/ ' they called it, because by working 
fourteen hours a day for a year you made less 
than half a yard. Marie Therese had a dress of 
it which took a year to make and cost fourteen 
thousand dollars. Considering that the work- 
ers received barely a cent an hour, one gets some 
idea of the magnitude of the task. The Beguin- 
age in Ghent was the headquarters for the man- 
ufacture of this lace, but only a few old nuns 
remain there now who know the secrets of its 
making. Machine-made imitations flood the 
market, and the former process is too costly to 




BRUSSELS POINT LACE. 



Belgium's Workshops 147 

make it worth any one's while to master it. 

Mechlin is the Flemish name for the town of 
Malines, and both words are nsed in connection 
with the lace which originated there. Mechlin 
is the airiest and most exquisite of laces, but its 
very delicacy made it too costly, and since it 
conld be so easily and cheaply imitated, it is no 
longer made by hand. It was constructed in 
one piece, with no application, a flat thread form- 
ing the flower and giving it almost the appear- 
ance of embroidery. Napoleon, who admired it 
greatly, cried out when he saw the delicate spire 
of Antwerp Cathedral that it was like il la den- 
telle de Malines." 

In spite of the fact that the art of making lace 
had fallen upon hard days, the lacemakers ' ball 
was still an important event of the season when 
we were in Brussels. It came in carnival week, 
and was the occasion on which the Societe de la 
Grande Harmonie received the King and Queen. 
It interested me to see how Their Majesties were 
welcomed by such a representative body of mid- 
dle-class citizens — there was the most genuine 
enthusiasm I have ever seen shown towards 
royalty. 

The Diplomatic Corps had been invited to at- 
tend, and we were taken to a platform at the 
end of a great room, where the royal chairs were 



148 The Spell of Belgium 

placed, and chairs in rows for the Corps and the 
Court and the Ministers of State. Beyond the 
columns which divided the hall into three parts 
were arranged the seats for the members of the 
society. The center of the floor remained clear, 
and here the tableaux and pageants represent- 
ing the various stages in the history of lace were 
performed. In their pageant the lacemakers all 
wore examples of their craft. 

One of the prettiest incidents occurred when 
the groups of costumed personages separated 
and there passed along the length of the ball- 
room floor two little children, a boy and a girl, 
dressed as a page and a miniature lady-in-wait- 
ing. They advanced slowly, and presented to 
the King and Queen books which told of the 
evening's entertainment. The Queen rose and 
apparently questioned the president of the so- 
ciety about the little girl who stood so shyly be- 
fore her. Then, taking the book, she stooped 
down and kissed her. It was very prettily and 
naturally done, and caused a round of appreci- 
ative applause and cries of "Long live the 
Queen !" 

Another attractive feature was that of the 
tiny children who represented the Flemish lace- 
makers, each one wearing the costume of the 
trade, They passed in procession before the 






Belgium's Workshops 149 

Queen and each, with a little courtesy, laid a 
bouquet of flowers at her feet. 

I was surprised to find that Brussels was the 
market for lace from all over the world, and that 
foreign laces of every description were copied 
there by the skilful dentellieres. This was still 
true, in spite of the marked decline which the 
industry had shown of late, especially since the 
introduction of machinery. 

Where a generation ago one hundred and fifty 
thousand women were employed, in 1910 there 
were barely twenty thousand. Their product 
had lost in quality, too, as well as in quantity. 
The old nuns who did the wonderful, intricate 
stitches, were dying off and there were none to 
take their places. The pattern-makers, also, 
were contenting themselves with easier designs. 
Belgium was "speeding up," with the rest of 
the world, and the painstaking arts had to suf- 
fer. Modern laces are carelessly made, in com- 
parison with those of former days, and from 
inferior designs. 

The wages paid those who still work at the 
craft seem low indeed, especially when the long 
years of apprenticeship are considered. Ver- 
haegen, in statistics collected in 1910, cites a girl 
of thirteen who was working ten hours a day, 
making in fifty-five hours a meter of Cluny lace 



150 The Spell of Belgium 

for which she received about fifty cents. Chil- 
dren of fourteen were working seventy-two 
hours a week for something less than a cent an 
hour, and grown women earned little more. 
The workers were not organized, and the 
middlemen seem to have prospered accord- 
ingly. 

But the pay was low in all branches of indus- 
try, even those which were well organized. An 
English writer noted that the rate of wages per 
hour for men in Belgium was only about half 
that prevailing in Britain, while the cost of liv- 
ing was nearly the same. The average earnings 
of the breadwinner of the family were about 
$165 a year. These facts certainly account for 
the development of cooperation. 

This movement, which had a great vogue 
throughout the country, started in Ghent in 
1873. Bread was scarce, and famine prices pre- 
vailed. A group of poor weavers conceived the 
idea of baking for themselves and their friends 
at cost. Their capital consisted of the vast sum 
of seventeen dollars and eighteen cents. Their 
bakery was in a cellar, and their utensils were 
antiquated. They could not afford a dog to de- 
liver their wares, which were taken from door 
to door in a basket. But this was only the be- 
ginning. The "free bakers,' ' as they called 



Belgium's Workshops 151 

themselves, came to have for their headquarters 
one of the finest buildings in Ghent. 

A few years later Edouard Anseele, realizing 
the power of the new movement, decided that it 
should be identified with Socialism for their mu- 
tual benefit. To that end was organized the 
Vooruit, which has branches all over Belgium, 
and in other countries as well. 

Instead of returning the profits made on bread 
sold at market prices to the purchasers, as had 
been originally done, a percentage was retained 
for the support of the organization in its various 
departments. There was a mutual benefit fund, 
for instance : bread was sent to members out of 
work; a doctor went to those who were ill; a 
trained nurse was at hand to look after the first 
baby and to instruct the mother in its care. 

When the Church set up rival bakeries, the 
Vooruit went farther. It established its first 
"maison du peuple," which has since been du- 
plicated in many places. Every need of the peo- 
ple was supposed to find here its satisfaction. 
There was a cafe, with tables in the park, and 
lights and music. There were lectures, dances, 
debates, concerts, movies. There was a theater 
where the actors and the plays were chosen by 
the vote of the audience, which, by the way, 
strongly favoured their own Maeterlinck. Be- 



152 The Spell of Belgium 

sides a library and a day nursery, there was a 
big department store, and in the same building 
were the headquarters for all the allied and 
friendly organizations — trade unions, coopera- 
tive and socialistic societies, and so on. 

One of the most interesting activities of the 
Vooruit was the traveling club for children, 
bands of whom went from town to town, picking 
up recruits as they went, seeing their own land 
first, then — this was before the war — crossing 
the border into France or Germany, where the 
local Vooruits made them welcome. A common 
practice was for children of the French and 
Flemish parts of the country to be exchanged for 
long visits, so that they might have a chance to 
learn each other's language. 

When the organization, which had always be- 
fore refused to sell alcoholic drinks, found itself 
bitterly opposed by the liquor interests, espe- 
cially in the mining districts, it built breweries 
of its own. In this way it was able to give the 
working men pure beer at a very low cost. 

The Maison du Peuple in Brussels was estab- 
lished in 1881, with a capital of about one hun- 
dred dollars. It began, like the one in Ghent, 
as a bakery, and owned a dog and a small cart 
to make deliveries. At last accounts the society 
had over ninety dogs. It is amusing to read 



Belgium's Workshops 153 

that these had their own kitchens, where their 
cooking was done, and their bathrooms, where 
they were kept clean. 

And when one is speaking of the workers of 
Belgium, the dogs should not be forgotten, for 
the larger breeds were very useful members of 
the industrial system. Laundresses, bakers and 
vendors used them in distributing their wares, 
and they were of great service on the farm. 
But perhaps the commonest sight was that of a 
dog hitched to a cart filled with shining brass 
and copper milk cans. They were all carefully 
inspected to see that their harness fitted prop- 
erly, and that they were provided with a drink- 
ing bowl and with a mat to lie down on when 
they were tired. 

The Government made a point, indeed, of 
seeing that conditions were as comfortable as 
possible for the animals. The poor cannot af- 
ford to keep a dog simply for a pet; there are 
no scraps from the table to feed him, because no 
thrifty housewife leaves any scraps ; he must do 
his share and earn his keep like the others. 

At a time when France laid a heavy tax on 
imported laces, dogs made excellent smugglers. 
They were kept for a time on the French side 
of the line, petted and well fed ; then they were 
sent over into Belgium, where they were allowed 



154 The Spell of Belgium 

to become thoroughly homesick. Skins of 
larger dogs were lined with contraband lace and 
tied on to them, and they were headed for home 
and set free. Of course they naturally sought 
their own firesides, and the lace went with them. 
When the ruse was discovered, over forty thou- 
sand of them were captured and put to death. 

Since the war began, dogs have been of great 
service in dragging the mitrailleuses, the light 
machine-guns, as well as in helping their mas- 
ters carry their household goods to a place of 
safety. The police dogs were wonderfully 
trained, and have been used by the Eed Cross to 
find the wounded in remote places and to carry 
first aid. 

The same high standards of efficiency by 
which Belgian workmen made a national repu- 
tation for their various manufactures showed 
also in the cultivation of the ground. The whole 
western part of the country was one vast mar- 
ket-garden, but it was no happy chance of soil 
and climate that made it so. Generations of 
unbroken toil on the part of a patient, skilful 
peasantry, equipped with the most primitive 
tools but with a positive genius for their work, 
were necessary. So recently as the first half of 
the nineteenth century there was a wild stretch 
of land west of the Scheldt known as the Pays 



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Belgium's Workshops 155 

de Waes, which was uncultivated and desolate. 
Today it is wonderfully fertile, its little truck 
farms supporting five hundred people to the 
mile. 

Flanders as a whole, indeed, had poor soil, 
often ' l an almost hopeless blowing sand. ' ' The 
method of reclamation usually began with the 
planting of oats, rye or broom. This was used 
three years for forage and then plowed in, after 
which the land became capable of producing 
clover. The rotation of crops was worked out 
with great care, according to the special needs 
of the soil. The Belgian wheat crop averaged 
thirty-seven bushels to the acre in 1913, while 
in the same year "up-to-the-minute" America 
raised only fifteen bushels. 

The soil is particularly suited to hemp and 
flax, the latter furnishing not only oil but fiber, 
of which the British markets bought ten million 
dollars' worth annually. Poppies were grown 
for oil. Tobacco yielded two tons to the acre, 
and white carrots eight hundred bushels. 

The Flemish farmer did most of his work by 
hand, with no other implement than a spade, 
which has been called the national tool. The 
population was so large that human labour was 
cheaper than animal. In sixteen days a man 
could dig up an acre of land as well as a horse 



156 The Spell of Belgium 

could plow it. A farmer was able to support 
himself, his wife and three children, keep a cow 
and fatten a hog, on two and a half acres. . With 
another acre he had a surplus product to carry- 
to market. A man with a capable wife and chil- 
dren could do all the work on six acres and have 
time left for outside interests. If he was fortu- 
nate enough to have horses they were the pride 
of his heart and he kept them always finely 
groomed and in the pink of condition. 

The women of the country married early, 
raised large families, and worked hard. They 
were good managers, especially in the Walloon 
districts where they often carried on some in- 
dustry besides their housekeeping. For centu- 
ries their chief employment was making lace. 
The Government established schools of house- 
keeping, where the girls learned domestic econ- 
omy in every branch ; they were sent to market, 
for instance, with six cents to buy the materials 
for a meal, which they afterwards cooked and 
served. 

The Government indeed did everything it 
could to improve conditions in the country dis- 
tricts and to encourage farming. It established 
schools of agriculture, with dairy classes for 
the girls, and aided in starting cooperative so- 
cieties. Its policies were far-seeing and marked 



Belgium's Workshops 157 

by a really paternal interest, as well they might 
have been, for to her sturdy peasants — and 
to the peasants' sturdy wives — were due the 
foundations of Belgian prosperity. 



CHAPTER IX 

TAPESTRIES 

yS we were intensely interested in tapes- 
tries we often went to the Museum to 
study and admire the most famous set in 
Brussels, an early Renaissance series of four 
pieces, called Notre Dame du Sablon. 

These hangings illustrate an old fourteenth- 
century story, which I condense from Hunter's 
delightful work on " Tapestries.' ' Beatrix 
Stoelkens, a poor woman of Antwerp, was told 
by the Virgin in a dream to get from the church 
of Notre Dame a little image of the Madonna. 
In obedience to the vision she obtained the 
statuette and took it to a painter, who decorated 
it in gold and colours. After Beatrix had re- 
turned it to the church, the Virgin clothed it with 
such grace that it inspired devotion in all who 
saw it. Then Our Lady appeared a second time 
to Beatrix, and directed her to carry the statue 
to Brussels. When she attempted to get it, the 
warden of the church interfered, but he found 
himself unable to move, and Beatrix bore away 

158 



Tapestries 159 



the little Madonna in triumph. She embarked 
for Brussels in an empty boat, which stemmed 
the current as if piloted by unseen hands. On 
arriving at her destination, she was received by 
the Duke of Brabant and the magistrates of the 
city, and the precious little statue was carried 
in procession to the church of Notre Dame du 
Sablon. 

This set bears the date 1518, when Brussels 
was no longer under a Burgundian Duke, but 
Charles V was ruler of the Netherlands. The 
designer of the set followed the Gothic custom 
of representing the story under the forms of his 
own day, so, instead of the Duke of Brabant, 
Philip the Fair, father of Charles V, is pictured 
receiving the Madonna from the hands of Bea- 
trix at the wharf, Charles V and his brother 
Ferdinand are bearing it in a litter to the 
church, and Margaret of Austria, aunt of 
Charles, kneels in prayer before the niche where 
the sacred image has been placed. 

When in New York it always gives us pleasure 
to go to the Metropolitan Museum to see the 
finest Belgian set in the United States, the 
Burgundian Sacraments, woven in the early 
fifteenth century. This splendid example of 
Gothic workmanship was made in the days when 
Philip the Good had brought the power of Bur- 



160 The Spell of Belgium 

gundy to its zenith. When the great Duke 
wanted to have magnificent hangings for the 
chamber of his son (who was afterward Charles 
the Bold), he ordered a set of tapestries from 
the weavers of Bruges. All that remains of 
this splendid work of art is now in the New York 
Museum — five pieces, which form half of the 
original set. The complete series consisted of 
two rows of scenes, the upper seven representing 
the Origin of the Seven Sacraments, the lower, 
the Seven Sacraments as Celebrated in the Fif- 
teenth Century. This set shows wonderful 
weaving, "with long hatchings that interpret 
marvelously the elaborately figured costumes 
and damask ground. ' ' 

There are other exquisite tapestries in Amer- 
ica, too, for the Committee of Safety in 1793 
imported some American wheat into France, 
and when the time came to pay it proffered 
assignats. Naturally enough, the Americans 
objected, but there was no money. "Then they 
offered, and the United States was obliged to 
accept in payment, some Beauvais tapestries 
and some copies of the Moniteur." 

Tapestries required muscular strength, for 
the material was heavy, and so men were given 
this work in town workshops. The ladies did 
the needle, bobbin and pillow work in the castles 



Tapestries 161 



and convents. True tapestry is always woven 
on a loom, and is a combination of artistic de- 
sign with skill in weaving. 

This tapestry industry was introduced into 
Western Europe in the Middle Ages by the 
Moors, but we can trace the art of making 
woven pictures to much earlier times. The an- 
cient Eomans had them. Ovid describes the 
contest in weaving between Arachne and Pallas, 
in which the maiden wrought more beautifully 
than the goddess. Pallas in anger struck the 
maid, who hanged herself in her rage because 
she dared not return the blow. The goddess, 
relenting, changed Arachne into a spider, and 
she continues her weaving to this day. 

But a much earlier poet has described the 
making of tapestry. We read in the Odyssey 
that, when the return of Ulysses to his native 
land was long delayed, his faithful wife Penel- 
ope postponed a decision among the suitors who 
importuned her by promising to make a choice 
when she had finished weaving the funeral robe 
for Laertes, her husband's father. The robe 
was never completed, for each night she took out 
the work of the day before. 

It is a very interesting fact that a Grecian 
vase has come down to us on which is a paint- 
ing of Penelope and her son Telemachus. Pe- 



162 The Spell of Belgium 

nelope is seated at what the experts say is cer- 
tainly a tapestry loom, though somewhat dif- 
ferent from those used at a later day. 

We have no large pieces done by the Greeks 
and the Romans, but many small bands for use 
as trimmings of robes. Some of these were 
woven by the Greeks as early as the fourth cen- 
tury B.C., others were made in Egypt under 
Roman rule some centuries later, and are called 
Coptic. From these one can trace the series 
through the silken Byzantine, Saracenic and 
Moorish dress tapestries to the Gothic fabrics 
of the fourteenth century. 

The Flemish and Burgundian looms were 
those of Arras, Brussels, Tournai, Bruges, 
Enghien, Oudenarde, Middlebourg, Lille, Ant- 
werp, and Delft in Holland. The value of the 
tapestry industry to Flanders may be judged 
from the fact that Arras, a city of no importance 
whatever, from which not a single great artist 
had come, led all Europe for about two centu- 
ries in tapestry weaving. 

Although some fine pieces were woven in the 
fourteenth century, as far as known, only two 
sets of Arras tapestries of this period are left. 
One set is at the cathedral of Angers in rather 
bad condition, for they were not appreciated at 
one time, and were used in a greenhouse and cut 



Tapestries 163 



up as rugs. Fortunately, they have been re- 
stored and returned to the cathedral. The 
other set of early Arras hangings is to be found 
at the cathedral of Tournai, in Belgium. A 
piece of this set bore an inscription — which has 
fortunately been preserved for us — stating, 
" These cloths were made and completed in 
Arras by Pierrot Fere in the year one thousand 
four hundred two, in December, gracious month. 
Will all the saints kindly pray to God for the 
soul of Toussaint Prier?" Toussaint Prier, a 
canon of the cathedral in 1402, was the donor 
of the tapestries. 

When Louis XI of France captured Arras, in 
1477, and dispersed the weavers, Tournai, Brus- 
sels, Oudenarde and Enghien took up the work. 
The oldest Brussels tapestries known belong to 
the latter part of the fifteenth century. Two 
of these sets were painted by Roger van der 
Weyden and celebrated the Justice of Trajan 
and the Communion of Herkenbald. Some 
have tried to prove that other important tapes- 
tries were designed by the great primitives, but 
Max Rooses assures us the resemblance to their 
work comes from the fact that their character- 
istics, "careful execution, extreme delicacy of 
workmanship, and brilliancy of colour," per- 
vaded every branch of art at that period. 



164 The Spell of Belgium 

Brussels and Oudenarde held the lead 
throughout the sixteenth century. The Bru- 
xellois wove vast historical compositions to dec- 
orate the palaces of kings; the weavers of 
Oudenarde produced landscapes, " verdures' ■ 
and scenes from peasant life for the homes of 
burghers. 

Tapestries are at their best as line drawings ; 
when more complicated effects are sought " con- 
fusion and uncertainty follow.' ' The finest 
ever woven were produced during the last half 
of the fifteenth and the first half of the sixteenth 
centuries, when Gothic tapestries gradually 
ceased to be made and Kenaissance pieces began 
to take their place. During that hundred years, 
when the weavers were most skilful and were 
still satisfied with line drawings, many of the 
finest tapestries combined the characteristics of 
both styles. 

In the sixteenth century, the weavers had 
such marvelous skill, however, that they actually 
reproduced the shadow effects of Italian de- 
signs. Even such great artists as Raphael and 
Michael Angelo drew cartoons, and stories of 
ten, twenty or even thirty scenes were woven, 
all showing the distinctive characters of Renais- 
sance art. They combined breadth of compo- 
sition and lively action with the introduction of 



Tapestries 165 



nude figures and elaborate landscape and archi- 
tectural settings. But in trying to copy paint- 
ing too closely, they departed from the best tra- 
ditions of tapestry technique, and deterioration 
was sure to follow in time. 

After the desolating wars of the sixteenth 
century, when arts and industries revived under 
the Archdukes Albert and Isabella, Brussels 
weavers set up their looms again, and "Rubens 
brought new life into tapestry manufacture. 
He supplied the Brussels workshops with four 
great series — the History of Decius Mus, des- 
tined for some Genoese merchants; the Tri- 
umphs and Types of the Eucharist, ordered by 
the Infanta Isabella for the convent of the 
Clares at Madrid ; the History of the Emperor 
Constantine, executed for Louis XIII ; and the 
History of Achilles, for Charles I. . . . The 
Triumphs and Types of the Eucharist are the 
most powerful allegories ever created to glorify 
the mysteries of the Catholic religion. ' ' 1 

Jacob Jordaens also designed tapestry car- 
toons, but the most popular artist among the 
weavers at the end of the seventeenth and in the 
eighteenth centuries was David Teniers. He 
did not himself make designs, but the manufac- 
turers, especially at Oudenarde, borrowed his 

i Max Rooses. 



166 The Spell of Belgium 

subjects, which were drawn largely from peas- 
ant and village life. 

One reason why we have so few of the really 
antique tapestries is that in 1797 the market for 
them was so dead — owing to the increasing use 
of wall-papers and canvases painted in oils — 
that the French decided it would be better to 
burn them for the gold and silver they contained. 
Accordingly, "One hundred and ninety were 
burned. During the French Kevolution, a num- 
ber of tapestries that bore feudal emblems were 
also burned at the foot of the Tree of Liberty. ' ' 
At this time, when they were not in fashion, 
many rare old hangings were cut up by the inar- 
tistic or the ignorant and used as rugs and cur- 
tains. 

But in recent years, we are told, the Brothers 
Braquenie have set up a workshop at Malines, 
where they have produced a fine series for the 
Hotel de Ville in Brussels, called "Les Serments 
et les Metiers de Bruxelles." The cartoons for 
this set were made by Willem Geef s, the painter. 

As to the material, there is a great difference. 
Gothic tapestries are composed of woolen weft 
on linen, or woolen on hemp warp, and are often 
enriched with gold and silver thread. These 
are not used today, as they are considered too 
expensive. Since the sixteenth century, Brus- 



Tapestries 167 



sels, Gobelins, and Mortlake have used a great 
deal of silk. In the fifteenth century fifteen or 
twenty colours were employed, in the Renais- 
sance period, twenty or thirty. 

"Both high warp and low warp antedated the 
shuttle. In other words, they use bobbins that 
travel only part way across instead of shuttles 
that travel all the way across. ' ' The high warp 
loom was also in use before the treadle. "In 
the low warp loom the odd threads of the warp 
are attached to a treadle worked with the left 
foot, the even threads of the warp to a treadle 
worked with the right foot, thus making possi- 
ble the manipulation of the warp with the feet 
and leaving both hands free to pass the bobbins. 
In the high warp loom, that has no treadle, the 
warps are manipulated with the left hand while 
the right hand passes the bobbins back and 
forth. The term high warp means that the 
warp is strung vertically, low warp horizon- 
tally." 

Both are woven with the wrong side toward 
the weaver. ' l The wrong side in all real tapes- 
tries is just the same as the right side except 
for reversal of direction and for the loose 
threads. ... In the high warp loom, the outline 
of the design is traced on the warp threads with 
India ink from tracing paper, and the coloured 



168 The Spell of Belgium 

cartoon hangs behind the weaver, where he con- 
sults it constantly. In the low warp loom, the 
coloured cartoon is usually beneath the warp, 
and often rolls up with the tapestry as it is com- 
pleted." 1 In the eighteenth century, the low 
warp loom was considered better than the haute 
lisse, or high warp. 

Great care has to be taken in dyeing the 
threads of the weft, which are much finer than 
those of the warp. Vegetable dyes, such as 
cochineal, madder, indigo, etc., must be used, 
for permanent colours can never be obtained 
with aniline dyes. The old Spanish dyes were 
considered the best. In this country, one some- 
times gets the fine colours in an old Mexican 
serape or a prized Navajo blanket. The wool 
that is used to mend old tapestries in the Amer- 
ican museums is coloured with dyes made by 
Miss Charlotte Pendleton in her workshop near 
Washington, which I have visited. 

The Arras tapestries have a better and more 
attractive texture than any others. " Arras 
tapestries are line drawings formed by the com- 
bination of horizontal ribs with vertical weft 
threads and hatchings. There are no diagonal 
or irregular or floating threads, as in em- 

i The description of technique is quoted from Hunter's 
"Tapestries." 






Tapestries 169 



broideries and brocades. Xor do any of the 
warp threads show, as in twills and damasks. 
The surface consists entirely of fine weft threads 
that completely interlace the coarser warp 
threads in plain weave (over and under alter- 
nately), and also completely cover them, so that 
only the ribs mark their position — one rib for 
each warp thread. Every Arras tapestry is a 
rep fabric, the number of ribs eight to twenty- 
four to the inch." The finely woven textures 
are not always considered the best. ' * The most 
marvelous tapestries of the fifteenth century 
were comparatively coarse (from eight to twelve 
ribs), and of the sixteenth were moderately 
coarse (from ten to sixteen). " 

Many of the early Gothic tapestries had in- 
scriptions woven at the bottom or the top, but 
had no borders. It was not until toward the 
end of the fifteenth century that they began to 
develop these. They first had narrow verdure 
edgingSj until Eaphael introduced compartment 
borders in the set of the Gates of the Apostles, 
the most famous tapestries of the world. The 
most noted cartoons in existence are the designs 
for this set, in the Victoria and Albert Museum 
at South Kensington. Renaissance borders 
were much wider than the Gothic, and were 
filled with greens and flowers. At the end of the 



170 The Spell of Belgium 

seventeenth century the borders took the form 
of imitation picture frames. 

Gothic verdures are in reality coloured draw- 
ings in flat outline of trees and flowers with 
birds and animals. Kenaissance verdures have 
more heavily shaded leaves and look more true 
to nature. 

The majority of Gothic tapestries are anony- 
mous as regards both maker and designer. With 
the Renaissance began the custom in Brussels 
and other Flemish cities of weaving the mark 
of the city into the bottom selvage, and the 
monogram of the weaver into the side selvage 
on the right. This custom was established by a 
city ordinance of Brussels in 1528. An edict of 
Charles V made it uniform, in 1544, for the 
whole of the Netherlands. After another cen- 
tury, weavers began to sign their full names or 
their initials in Roman letters, and monograms 
were discarded. 

When the weavers of Arras took refuge in 
other countries, after the capture of that town 
by Louis XI, they went by thousands to England 
and France. In this way the French looms at 
Gobelins, Beauvais, and Aubusson were started, 
and those at Mortlake, in England. 

As early as the fourteenth century, there was 
at least one eminent master weaver in Paris, 



Tapestries 171 



Nicolas Bataille, in whose factory part of the 
remarkable Apocalypse set of the cathedral of 
Angers was woven. But even in the fifteenth 
and sixteenth centuries, French tapestries were 
far from equaling those of Flanders. In 1667, 
Colbert "established in the buildings of the 
Gobelins the furniture factory of the Crown 
under the direction of Charles Lebrun." 

The great establishment of "Les Gobelins," 
by the way, has an interesting history. Jean 
and Philibert Gobelin built a dyehouse in the 
fifteenth century by the little stream of the 
Bievre, in the Faubourg, whose waters had pe- 
culiar qualities that gave special excellence to 
their dyes. The family found dyeing so profit- 
able that they were able to become bankers, and 
at the beginning of the seventeenth century they 
sold the establishment, which, however, still kept 
their name. Here Comans and Planche, tapes- 
try weavers from Flanders, opened a factory 
in 1601. The edict of Henri Quatre by which 
they were incorporated gave them important 
privileges, but also obliged them to train ap- 
prentices and to establish the craft in the prov- 
inces. 

During the Spanish occupation of the Nether- 
lands, many tapestries were taken to Spain, 
where the finest in existence today are to be 



172 The Spell of Belgium 

found. They may be seen in the churches and 
draping the balconies over the streets of a fete 
day. King Alfonso owns seven miles of gold 
and silver thread hangings. But these are only 
the remnant of what Spanish royalty formerly 
possessed. Charles V, Philip II, and many 
others of the ruling house were indefatigable 
collectors. The famous Conquest of Tunis, in 
twelve pieces, was woven by Willem de Panne- 
maker, the most noted of the master-weavers, 
for Charles V. The cartoons for this set are in 
the Imperial Museum in Vienna and the tapes- 
tries in the royal palace in Madrid. "Many 
pieces that formerly belonged to the kings of 
Spain have been destroyed by fire ; others have 
been worn out by long and frequent use. For 
these tapestries did not remain in a fixed place : 
they were hung in halls and apartments on fes- 
tive occasions ; they were taken down and rolled 
up when they had done service ; they were used 
on journeys to furnish the lodgings en route; 
they were packed with the campaign-baggage to 
garnish the tents ; they decorated the jousting 
lists and the streets and squares when the sover- 
eigns made their entries." 

Tapestries can also be found in Russia in 
palaces and museums, for Peter the Great sent 
for weavers from Flanders. England, too, was 



Tapestries 173 



dependent upon the Flemings, for the noted 
weaver, Philip de Maecht, came from the atelier 
of Comans and Planche to become head of the 
works at Mortlake. 

In 1376, the Court of Savoy ordered many 
tapestries from the great manufacturer, Nicolas 
Bataille, but later factories were opened in 
Italy. About 1455, Eenard de Marncourt, an- 
other Flemish weaver, made in Rome for Pope 
Nicholas V the marvelous set of the Creation of 
the World. There were also tapestry works at 
Ferrara with prominent Flemings at their head. 
Nicholas and Jean Karcher were employed there 
by Duke Hercules II. Jean Roost, of Brussels, 
was head of a factory at Florence, in which work 
was continued for over two hundred years. 
Cardinal Francisco Barberini, after his visit to 
France in 1633, when he became interested in the 
works of Comans and Planche, started another 
factory in Rome. Nicholas Poussin and Pietro 
de Cortona supplied designs, the art director 
was Jean Francois Romanelli, and the manager 
Jacopo della Riviera. 

Among our own tapestries, the Diana set of 
eight pieces came from the Barberini collection. 
The cartoons of these were done by du Breuil. 
This series possesses remarkable decorative 
qualities and is of great historical importance. 



174 The Spell of Belgium 

The panels were woven in Brussels at the close 
of the sixteenth or the beginning of the seven- 
teenth century, in the ateliers of Jacques 
Geubles and Jean Raes, who were among the 
most famous weavers of their time. The mark 
of Brussels and Brabant is woven in the bottom 
galon of every one of the pieces, and the mono- 
grams of the authors, that of Kaes in the upper 
part and that of Geubles in the lower part, al- 
though it is most unusual to find all the panels 
signed by the artists collaborating in their pro- 
duction. The original linings of these tapes- 
tries bore the stamped monogram of Cardinal 
Francisco Barberini and also that of Cardinal 
Antonio Barberini. In MSS. XL VIII of Vol. 
141, preserved in the Barberini library, these 
tapestries are mentioned as having been " pre- 
sented by the most Christian King Louis XIII 
of France to Cardinal Barberini, Legate to 
France, 1625.' ' 

Cardinal Francisco Barberini, when he visited 
the Court of France in 1625, went as Legate of 
his uncle, Pope Urbain VIII, to settle upon 
terms of peace for Europe. These hangings 
then became part of the collection owned by the 
princely Barberini of Borne, which in time came 
to be renowned and was regarded as one of the 
most splendid in the world. 



Tapestries 175 



The subjects seem to be allegorical represen- 
tations of the Loves of Henry of France and 
Diana of Poictiers, as has been agreed by some 
of the most important authorities who have 
studied them, for the faces in the tapestries 
show a distinct resemblance to portraits of the 
King and his favourite. Engravings of the 
heads of Henry and Diana, as can be seen in the 
Gazette des Beaux Arts, exhibit striking like- 
nesses to those on the woven fabric. In the Ga- 
zette there is an illustration which shows the 
chateau of Anet, with gardens such as are rep- 
resented in the tapestries, with a fountain, and 
Diana standing with the crescent in her hair, 
her bow in her hand and a quiver at her back, 
wearing a costume similar in style and charac- 
ter. Montaiglon writes of the chateau of Anet, 
that the altars were destroyed and the statues 
torn from their bases and carried off in pieces, 
as is suggested in one panel which represents a 
rushing river sweeping away columns and 
statues from their foundations. Mythology 
teaches that the legendary Diana punished 
mothers who deserted their children, and suc- 
coured their offspring, as is again suggested in 
this same panel of Diana of Poictiers, who did 
more, history relates, to bring up the children 
of the King than did the Queen. The beautiful 



176 The Spell of Belgium 

Madame d'Estampes and her coterie did every- 
thing in their power to destroy Diana; pas- 
quinades and libelous brochures were levied 
against her. The dragon in one panel repre- 
sents jealousy, spite and vindictiveness in its 
flaming eyes, scaly hide and protruding tongue. 
Also, in allegorical manner, nothing could better 
express the triumph which the King accorded 
Diana when he " broke her enemies and humili- 
ated them, ,, than the picture of the King slay- 
ing the dragon. The set is full of interesting 
detail — there are dogs and hares, nymphs and 
satyrs. All the details combine to tell the story, 
and in one piece the monarch wears a crown, 
which emphasizes the royalty of the lover. 

Seven of the tapestries were originally ac- 
quired from the Princess Barberini, although 
inventories suggested that there were eight in 
the full series ; strangely enough, several years 
later, the missing one was discovered by another 
collector in Amsterdam, but this had had its 
border cut off, as would naturally be the case in 
a stolen tapestry. We were able to get it, so 
that now the set is once more complete after 
hundreds of years. 

The David and Goliath series is also in our 
possession, and is a representative set. These 
tapestries illustrate prominent events in the 



Tapestries 177 



story of David and Goliath, and were made in 
Flanders in the second half of the sixteenth cen- 
tury. They are in excellent condition, without re- 
pair, and possess borders of delicious character. 

This set was presented by Cardinal d'Este, 
Papal Legate at the Court of Charles IX of 
France, to Count Flaminio Mannelli, who was 
then his secretary and had filled in various ways 
honourable offices at the Court and in the service 
of the Dowager Queen Catherine de Medici. 

A record of the period shows that about 1587 
the hangings were brought to Count Mannelli 's 
palace, in the Marche of Italy, where they re- 
mained until 1898, when we purchased them 
from the Marquis Pianetti of Jesi, who had 
come into possession of the set. The six dif- 
ferent panels depict literally the scenes de- 
scribed in the Bible. The titles are : David be- 
fore Saul, the Challenge of Goliath of Gath, the 
Battle between Goliath and David, the Behead- 
ing of Goliath, the Triumph of David, and the 
Madness of Saul. 

When we were in Belgium, the home of tapes- 
try, I was surprised to find comparatively few 
pieces there. Many more, as I have said, are 
seen in Italy and Spain, some in France and 
England, and a few in America, where we are 
beginning to appreciate them. 



CHAPTER X 

PRIMITIVES AND LATER PAINTERS 

^sjjgN the Low Countries, perhaps more than 
g||g in any other part of Europe, has the many- 
sided life of the people revealed itself 
through the various forms of artistic expres- 
sion. Religion, industry, struggles for inde- 
pendence, the power of the guilds, the splendour 
of the dukes of Burgundy, the landscape, the 
homes, the people themselves, all are found in 
Belgian art. They were pictured in the deli- 
cate tracery of cloistered illuminators, carved in 
wood or stone in the old churches, enshrined 
within the wooden panels of ancient triptychs, 
and woven into the storied tapestries of hall and 
castle. They figured in the canvases of the 
Renaissance masters, and after the "Dark 
Ages' ' of the Spanish oppression, were revived 
in a new race of modern painters, who depicted 
the life of the young nation. The true great- 
ness, the real charm of Belgium has lain in her 
art. 

Obviously, the two great periods of Belgian 

178 



Primitives and Later Painters 179 

art were the fifteenth and the seventeenth cen- 
turies, but it by no means follows that no other 
periods are worthy of our consideration; in- 
deed, we cannot understand the school of the 
van Eycks without studying the three centuries 
preceding the fifteenth. Before the days of 
Hubert van Eyck there were at Bruges masters 
of whom he learned, and whose style can hardly 
be distinguished from his own. A hundred 
years earlier than the van Eycks was the great 
age of architecture, when cathedrals and mighty 
cloth-halls rose on Flemish plains, and sculp- 
ture, stained glass and wrought iron were all 
called for to decorate the wonderful structures. 
Still earlier, many a patient monk in his cell 
traced with loving care those illuminations that 
made the beauty of missal and breviary. The 
van Eycks and Memling were the lineal de- 
scendants of these artists. 

Toward the fourteenth century, the exquisite 
vignettes of the illuminators displayed marvel- 
ous grace and delicacy of execution, cleverness 
of design, and great brilliancy of colour. To 
quote from a French writer, "In the hands of 
the miniature painters of Bruges, gold glistens, 
it sparkles. Their colours, if they are not more 
beautiful, are as beautiful as those of nature. 
Their flesh tints vie with the freshness of colour 



180 The Spell of Belgium 

of young girls, just as in their arabesques and 
in their frames we think we see currants and 
strawberries ripening and breathe the perfume 
of flowers.' • 

At this time, painters and illuminators were 
in some sense rivals. They were enrolled in 
separate guilds at Bruges. "The Guild of St. 
Luke included painters, saddlers, glass-makers 
and mirror-makers; that of St. John illumi- 
nators, calligraphers, binders and image-paint- 
ers. ' ' Painters were allowed to use oil-colours, 
but illuminators were limited to water-colours. 
It became the aim of the former to transfer to 
their canvases and their wooden panels the same 
vividness of colouring that the latter produced 
upon vellum. Doubtless many artists were at 
work at this problem, which was finally solved 
by Hubert van Eyck. 

Another important factor in forming the 
Flemish school was the influence of the guilds. 
In the fourteenth century, the painter was a 
craftsman and as rigidly bound by the laws of 
his guild as any carpenter or mason. He was 
apprenticed to a master for perhaps five years, 
during which he was taught the secrets of the 
craft. He learned to choose the wood for his 
panel and make it ready for use. He mixed the 
fine plaster with which to cover the wood, and 



Primitives and Later Painters 181 

the durability of his picture depended on the 
care he used in this and the evenness of the 
coating. For every implement with which he 
worked, every colour that entered into his pic- 
ture, he must depend upon himself. He must 
prepare his own oils and varnishes. If he 
wished to make a drawing, he often was obliged 
to work with the silver-point, and to prepare his 
paper himself; if he drew in chalk or charcoal, 
he had to make his own selection of mate- 
rials. 

After the apprenticeship came the years of 
wandering, when the young painter could work 
for any master he pleased, could travel as far 
afield as he chose, and in this way gain experi- 
ence and a store of valuable impressions. 
When he returned to his home, he was admitted 
to the painters' guild, provided he could satisfy 
its officers that he was competent ; if so, he could 
take his position as a master of the craft. Even 
then he was not free from the supervision of the 
fraternity. His master's oath bound him to 
honesty and to do his work "as in the sight of 
God." Its officers inspected his materials and 
his output, and if either was found to be below 
the standard he was punished. Every contract 
must be fulfilled to the letter, and the guild offi- 
cers were the arbiters in case of any dispute. 



182 The Spell of Belgium 

Finally, all his implements were marked with 
the sign of the guild. 

Pictures of the cities of Flanders in the fif- 
teenth century bear witness to their artistic 
splendour. Says an English writer of Bruges 
at that time, "The squares were adorned with 
fountains; its bridges with statues in bronze; 
the public buildings and many of the private 
houses with statuary and carved work, the 
beauty of which was heightened and brought out 
by gilding and polychrome; the windows were 
rich with storied glass, and the walls of the inte- 
riors adorned with paintings in distemper, or 
hung with gorgeous tapestry.' ' It was in sur- 
roundings such as these and under the stimulus 
of competition with his brother craftsmen that 
Hubert van Eyck made his great discovery of a 
manner of using oil in painting large pieces that 
would make it possible to equal the brilliant 
colours of the illuminators. The Flemings kept 
the secret of the new process so well that it was 
not disclosed to Italian artists until toward the 
end of the fifteenth century. 

But this discovery in technique is not his only 
claim to renown. His achievements as a painter 
were even greater than his skill as a craftsman. 
A high authority says that the beauty of the 
Virgin in the Adoration of the Lamb i ' places it 



Primitives and Later Painters 183 

in the rank of the Madonnas of Leonardo da 
Vinci and of Kaphae!." This genius of the 
Middle Ages and his yonnger brother have left 
Belgium in the famous triptych a lofty compo- 
sition in which the marvelous technique that has 
wrought the colours together till the surface is 
like enamel is combined with beauty of land- 
scape and skill in portraiture. In the inscrip- 
tion placed npon it we read: "Hubert van 
Eyck, than whom none greater has appeared, 
began the work, which Jan his brother, in art 
the second, brought to completion. ' ' 

Almost nothing is known of the life of Hubert 
van Eyck. He was born at Maaseyck about the 
year 1366, and lived at Bruges with his brother 
and their sister Margaret, who was also a 
painter. He was made a member of the paint- 
ers ' guild of Ghent in 1421, the year in which he 
left the service of the powerful lord afterward 
known as Philip the Good. Three years later, 
Jodocus Vydts, burgomaster of Ghent, and his 
wife Isabella gave him an order for an altar- 
piece to be placed in their mortuary chapel in 
the cathedral. His work was cut short by his 
death in 1426. It is impossible to tell how much 
was done by his hand and how much by his 
brother Jan, but there seems good reason to be- 
lieve that Hubert painted the central panels in 



184 The Spell of Belgium 

the upper row, and that Jan was the artist of 
the Adoration panel below these. Through 
some strange lack of appreciation in the cus- 
todians of this masterpiece, Brussels and Ber- 
lin were able to purchase the wings, so that those 
we saw at Ghent were only copies. 

Hubert van Eyck's body was laid in the chapel 
of the Vydts' in the cathedral of St. Bavon, near 
his masterpiece, but we are told that his severed 
right arm was placed in a reliquary in the ca- 
thedral itself. No doubt it was considered a sa- 
cred relic ! His epitaph was carved on a shield, 
supported by a marble skeleton. The follow- 
ing free translation of this quaint old Flemish 
verse was made by William B. Scott i 1 

"Whoe 'er thou art who walkest overhead, 

Behold thyself in stone: for I yestreen, 

Was seemly and alert like thee: now dead, 

Nailed up and earthed, and for the last time green; 

The first spring greenness and the last decay 

Are hidden here forever from the day. 

I, Hubert van Eyek, whom all Bruges' folks hailed 

Worthy of lauds, am now with worms engrailed. 

My soul, with many pangs by God constrained, 

Fled in September, when the corn is wained, 

Just fourteen hundred years and twenty-six 

Since Lord Christ did invent the crucifix. 

Lovers of Art, pray for me that I gain 

God's grace, nor find I've painted, lived, in vain." 

i "Gems of Modern Belgian Art." 




' L'HOMME A LGEUILLET " — VAX EYCK, 



Primitives and Later Painters 185 

Jan van Eyck was courtier as well as artist. 
As a young man, lie was employed by Jolm of 
Bavaria, Bishop of Liege, and after the death 
of his brother we hear of him as gentleman of 
the chamber to Philip the Good, Duke of Bur- 
gundy, by whom he was sent on various mis- 
sions. One of his journeys was made to Portu- 
gal, where he painted the portrait of Princess 
Isabella, who afterward became the second wife 
of the Duke, and in whose honour the Order of 
the Golden Fleece was founded. His famous 
picture called "L'homme a roeuillet," was the 
portrait of Jean de Boubaix, who accompanied 
him to Portugal and arranged the marriage of 
the Princess with the great Duke. Jan seems 
to have possessed the modesty of true great- 
ness, for on more than one of his pictures is 
found the motto, "Als Ikh Kan," As I can. 
During the latter part of his life he lived at 
Bruges, where he died in 1440. 

In the midst of his court duties, Jan found 
time to go on with the great altar-piece, which 
he completed in 1432. A few years later, he 
produced what is perhaps his finest religious 
painting next to the Adoration, the Madonna of 
the Canon van der Paele. This picture repre- 
sents the Virgin and Child enthroned in a 
stately basilica, probably the cathedral of St. 



186 The Spell of Belgium 

Donatian at Bruges. In the foreground, on the 
right stands St. George, on the left St. Donatian. 
On the Virgin's left, upon his knees, is George 
van der Paele, Canon of St. Donatian, the donor 
of the painting. 

This Virgin and St. Donatian by Jan van 
Eyck would make one think, says Fromentin, 
i i that the art of painting had said its last word, 
and that from the first hour. And yet, without 
changing either theme or method, Memling was 
going to say something more." 

A tradition cherished by the Flemings has it 
that Hans Memling, in the year 1477, dragged 
himself, sick and needy, to the gates of St. 
John's Hospital in Bruges, where he was ten- 
derly nursed back to health, and that, in grati- 
tude, he painted for the hospital the pictures 
that have ever since been its pride. This may 
or may not be true, but a detail in the Marriage 
of St. Catherine seems designed to confirm the 
legend. It represents a man dropping ex- 
hausted in the street, who is then revived by 
some cooling drink, and afterward borne to the 
hospital. We can not but feel that the artist 
is giving us here an incident from his personal 
history. 

The little we know of Memling's life may be 
told in very few words. In 1450, he painted the 



Primitives and Later Painters 187 

portrait of Isabella, Duchess of Burgundy, 
whose likeness Jan van Eyck had journeyed to 
Portugal to make twenty-two years before. 
After the death of Philip the Good, no doubt he 
was court painter to Charles the Eash and in 
the year of the latter 's defeat and death at 
Nancy took refuge in Bruges. Here he married 
and came into possession of some property 
through his wife, he painted his greatest works, 
and died in 1495. 

In the quaint chapter-room of the old hos- 
pital, itself dating from the thirteenth century, 
Memling's compositions found an appropriate 
setting. Here was the great triptych of the 
Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine, an altar-piece 
for the high altar of the church connected with 
the hospital; two smaller triptychs, one of the 
Three Kings, the other a Pieta ; the portrait of 
Mary Moreel, and a diptych ordered by Martin 
van Nieuwenhoven, on which is Mending's finest 
piece of portraiture, the likeness of the donor. 
"The man himself is no very superb specimen 
of humanity; he has a bright and pleasant 
though rather foolish face; but such as he is 
Memling has caught the idea of him, and placed 
him visibly and knowably on the panel. ... Its 
colouring is unusual and most beautiful. The 
textures of the garments are superb, and not 



188 The Spell of Belgium 

only are the little landscapes seen through the 
open windows full of the charm that Memling al- 
ways threw into his backgrounds, but the charm 
extends to the interior of the room, with its 
stained glass windows, paneled walls, looking- 
glass and other pieces of furniture. ' ' * 

But the most interesting work by the great 
Fleming that the hospital contains is the world- 
famed reliquary of St. Ursula. This chest, in 
shape like a tiny Gothic chapel, only three feet 
long and two feet ten inches high, bears on its 
sides in six arched panels the legend of St. 
Ursula and her eleven thousand virgins. The 
saint and her maidens are seen landing at 
Cologne, arriving at Basle, and received in 
Rome by the Sovereign Pontiff himself, who 
joins them for the return voyage down the 
Rhine. They are awaited at Cologne by the 
cruel Huns, who shoot them down without 
mercy, and, last of all, the saintly princess suf- 
fers martyrdom. 

This story is told in panels only one foot in 
width. The little pictures are crowded with 
figures dressed in the sumptuous costumes of 
the Court of Burgundy. Genuine landscapes 
are introduced in the backgrounds — the city of 
Cologne and the scenery along the Rhine are 

i Conway. 




ST. LUKE PAINTING THE MADONNA. — VAN DER WEYDEN. 



Primitives and Later Painters 189 

pictured from sketches which the artist made 
himself. These tiny paintings have the bril- 
liant colouring of the van Eycks and the finish 
of detail of the old illuminators. They show 
the tenderness, the fancy, the patient industry 
of the master. " Gentle, cordial, affectionate, 
humble, painstaking as Memling must have been, 
his best works are those of the St. Ursula series 
type, where his fancy could play about bright 
and fairy-like creatures, where no storm nor 
the memory of a storm need ever come, where 
no clouds darkened the sky, and not even the 
brilliant tones of sunset gave forecast of a com- 
ing night. ' ' * 

Another of the early Flemish masters was 
Eoger van der Weyden. His St. Luke Paint- 
ing the Madonna, in the Boston Museum of 
Fine Arts, is considered one of the masterpieces 
of that gallery. 

As an artist, Roger van der Weyden was the 
equal of neither the van Eycks nor Memling, 
but he was greater as a master. His art com- 
bined the religious symbolism of the Middle 
Ages with the new naturalism of Jan van Eyck, 
and its effect was wide-spread. The Germans 
made his paintings their standard, the Italians 
acknowledged his greatness, and the artists 

i Conway. 



190 The Spell of Belgium 

of the Low Countries all formed their style 
under his teaching or strove to imitate his 
work. 

I have never seen a keener and juster analysis 
of the art of the Flemish primitives than that 
given by Conway, in his " Early Flemish Art- 
ists," from which I quote: "Jan van Eyck 
was a man of fact, his work is an attempt to 
state the uttermost truth about things. ... In 
his pictures, light and shade, texture, colour and 
outline have about equal stress laid upon them. 
In this respect he was one of the most complete 
of artists. ' ' Eoger van der Weyden ' ' laid chief 
stress upon outlines, striving to make them 
graceful so far as in him lay. . . . Memling was 
formed of milder stuff. . . . He was a painter 
of fairy tales, not of facts. ... To lose oneself 
in a picture of his is to take a pleasant and 
healthy rest." 

The same critic adds this beautiful charac- 
terization of early Flemish art in general: 
"The paintings of Flanders were not, and were 
not intended to be, popular. Flemish artists 
did not, like the Italians, paint for the folk, but 
for the delight of a small Clique of cultured and 
solid individuals. They painted as their em- 
ployers worked, with energy, honesty and en- 
durance ; they cared not for beauty of the more 



Primitives and Later Painters 191 

palpable and less enduring kind, but they cared 
infinitely for Truth; for her they laboured in 
humility, satisfied with the joy of their own 
obedience, and then, when they slept and knew 
not of it, she came and clothed the children of 
their industry with her own unfading garments 
of loveliness and life." 

Between the glorious past of the van Eycks 
and Memling and the brilliant future of Rubens 
and Jordaens, stands Quentin Matsys, the 
founder of the Antwerp school, who died in 
1530. He was the great master of the Gothic- 
Renaissance transition, showing the influence of 
the Renaissance, while still clinging to Gothic 
types. His paintings include religious subjects 
and incidents drawn from daily life. His 
u women of a goddess-like delicacy with almond 
eyes and long slim fingers, ' ' lived a mystical life 
among transparent, glassy columns and carpets 
with exotic embroideries. The men have an air 
of distinction. He often leans as far toward 
caricature, however, as he does toward senti- 
mentality, and there are great contrasts in his 
work — grimacing, long-nosed, carousing old 
men and lovely women. "None understands as 
well as Matsys how to make strong splendours 
of colour shine through a thin veil of mist, or 
how to paint the tremulous surface of life so 



192 The Spell of Belgium 

that we see the blood running in the veins." 
From "Master QuentinV prime until Eu- 
bens brought back to Flanders the results of 
his studies in Italy was nearly one hundred 
years — years that covered the Spanish oppres- 
sion of the Low Countries under Charles V and 
Philip II, years that saw Flanders desolated 
by the Duke of Alva. But out of the decay of 
Flemish art rose Peter Paul Eubens, born in 
1577. 

John Eubens, the father of the painter, was a 
lawyer in Antwerp. As he favoured the Prot- 
estants, he found it the safest course, when the 
Duke of Alva's reign of terror began, to take 
refuge with his family across the border at 
Cologne. Here he became the legal adviser of 
Anne of Saxony, wife of William the Silent, who 
preferred to reside comfortably at Cologne 
while he was off fighting the Spaniards. 

The result of this association was a scandal 
of the most serious nature, and only the efforts 
of his forgiving wife and the desire of the house 
of Orange to hush up the affair, saved Master 
Eubens from the penalty of death, as prescribed 
by the German law of that day. His sentence 
was commuted to imprisonment for life, but 
after two years of close confinement he was per- 
mitted to live with his family in Siegen, on con- 



Primitives and Later Painters 193 

dition of giving himself up again whenever sum- 
moned. It was during this time that Peter 
Paul, "the most Flemish of all the Flemings," 
was born at Siegen, on German soil. 

After the death of John Bubens, his widow 
returned with her family to Antwerp, where the 
little Peter Paul was sent to a school on the 
site of the present Milk Market, until he was 
thirteen years old. Then, as he was a bright, 
handsome boy, the Countess van Lalaing re- 
ceived him as page into her house, where she 
held a miniature court. He was in the service 
of the Countess only one year, but the training 
he gained in that time gave him the courtesy 
and ease of manners that made him, in after 
years, perfectly at home in the presence of 
princes. 

In his boyhood Eubens had shown his love of 
art by making it his chief amusement to copy 
the illustrations in his mother's large family 
Bible, and after leaving the Countess van 
Lalaing, he persuaded his mother to let him 
study painting. For four years he was the 
pupil of Adam van Noort, and afterward of Otto 
van Veen, also called Vaenius, after the fashion 
of the day. At that time van Veen was the 
most noted painter in Antwerp. Two years 
more of study, and Eubens was admitted into 



194 The Spell of Belgium 

the Guild of St. Luke, and the following year 
he assisted his master in decorating the city for 
the Joyous Entry of the Archdukes Albert and 
Isabella. 

The young painter's next step was to seek in- 
spiration in Italy, and in 1600 he went to Venice 
to study Titian and Veronese. Here he copied 
old masters, painted portraits, and attracted the 
attention of the Duke of Mantua, who became 
his patron. In 1603 he was sent to Spain by 
the Duke, and took with him many paintings as 
a present for Philip III. When he went home 
to Flanders in 1608, Albert and Isabella made 
him court painter in order that they might keep 
him in Antwerp. 

Rubens was twice married. His first wife, 
Isabella Brant, made his home happy for seven- 
teen years, and is commemorated in several 
paintings. Helena Fourment, whom he mar- 
ried four years after Isabella's death, was a girl 
of sixteen who was considered remarkably beau- 
tiful, and if we may judge by the use he made of 
her as a model, this opinion of her was fully 
shared by her husband. Besides the numerous 
portraits of her — in every possible position, sit- 
ting, standing or walking, handsomely dressed 
or nearly nude, alone or with her husband or 
children, in her own person or as Bathsheba, 



Primitives and Later Painters 195 

Dido or Andromeda — she appears in such large 
compositions as the Garden of Love and the 
Judgment of Paris. 

The paintings of Kubens have always been 
the special pride of Antwerp. The Elevation of 
the Cross and the Descent from the Cross were 
the treasures of the cathedral. The first was 
painted in 1610, soon after his return from Italy, 
and the second but little later. There are six 
known variants of the Descent from the Cross. 
The one in the cathedral is a wonderful com- 
position, brilliant in its conception and mar- 
velously drawn. The Elevation is by some 
critics considered finer than its companion pic- 
ture. The Christ a la Paille, the "Coup de 
Lance," the Adoration of the Kings, and the 
Last Communion of St. Francis are all in the 
Antwerp Museum. 

Fromentin, writing of Eubens in 1876, thus 
spoke of Malines and works of the great artist 
that were treasured there: "There are only 
two things that have outlived its past splendour, 
some extremely costly sanctuaries and the pic- 
tures by Rubens. These pictures are the cele- 
brated triptych of the Magi, in St. John's, and 
the no less celebrated triptych of the Miraculous 
Draught of Fishes, which belongs to the Church 
of Notre Dame." 



196 The Spell of Belgium 

In this connection it is interesting to read 
how, when the Germans were shelling Malines 
for the second time, early last September, a 
Red Cross worker saved the Adoration of the 
Magi. The church had not yet suffered from the 
German shells. "This large work, composed of 
two side panels and a center piece, being on 
panel, was too heavy for two men to handle. 
I was first compelled to break into the church, 
for everybody had fled from the stricken town, 
and after many endeavours to find help, com- 
mandeered the only police officer available, two 
fine gendarmes and a locksmith. These men, 
with the utmost good will, helped us to rig a 
tackle over the famous picture, and, after two 
or three hours' work, we were rejoiced to see 
our exertions crowned with success, for the 
three parts of the picture were down, without 
the slightest scratch. We commandeered from 
a village close by a dray and two horses, lashed 
the central piece of the picture between soft 
pads of hay and blankets, and sent it under the 

care of one of our men into safety at . The 

two side panels I took away myself in my own 
car." 

The Miraculous Draught of Fishes, which had 
been removed from the church of Notre Dame, 
and was found in a corridor of a public gymna- 



Primitives and Later Painters 197 

siuni, lying bare against the wall and without 
any protection whatever, was saved in the same 
way. The shrine of St. Eombaut, "a very 
costly work of silver and gold, about three feet 
high and five feet long," was rescued before the 
destruction of the cathedral, and sent to a secret 
place of safety. It is a " valuable specimen of 
antique goldsmith's work." Many altar fur- 
nishings in gold and silver, beautiful laces, and 
a number of paintings, among them two more 
that are attributed to Eubens, were also in- 
cluded among the articles saved. 

Eubens was a prolific artist, and his pictures 
are to be found in all the great galleries of Eu- 
rope, besides a small number in American pri- 
vate houses and museums. An interesting ex- 
ample of these is the portrait of a man and 
his wife, in the collection of Mrs. Eobert D. 
Evans of Boston, now in the Museum of Fine 
Arts. 

Eubens had all the industry, honesty, and bril- 
liancy of colour of the great Flemings. He had, 
besides, greatness of conception and breadth of 
composition. A distinguished English painter 
calls him "perhaps the greatest master in the 
mechanical part of the art, the best workman 
with his tools, that ever exercised a pencil." 
His paintings glow with vitality; they depict 



198 The Spell of Belgium 

natural life in landscapes, in animals, in human 
beings. Many of his works are on large can- 
vases and depict gross and sensual subjects. 
His Madonnas are often unsatisfying; his fig- 
ures of Christ seldom bear the impress of the 
Godhead; with one or two notable exceptions 
the life of the spirit is lacking in his work. One 
of these exceptions is the Last Communion of 
St. Francis, which was at last accounts in the 
Antwerp Museum. The dying saint in the fore- 
ground has raised himself on his knees, and is 
even stretching toward the officiating priest on 
the left. His weak body is supported by a monk 
on the right. His face is radiant with spiritual 
exaltation and an earnestness of purpose that 
would hold even death in check until the holy 
wafer has passed his lips. In this picture Ru- 
bens has pierced the veil and revealed the things 
that cannot be known by the senses. Fromentin 
says of it: "When one has made a prolonged 
study of this unequalled work in which Rubens is 
transfigured, one can no longer look at any- 
thing, neither any person, nor other paintings, 
not even Rubens himself; for today one must 
leave the Museum.' ' 

But Rubens was the head of a school of paint- 
ing — the later Flemish school. His studio was 
thronged with young artists, who were assist- 



Primitives and Later Painters 199 

ants as well as students. With his keenness of 
observation directed to a line of business, the 
master quickly discovered what each pupil could 
do best, and set him at that part of a composi- 
tion. In this way Kubens was enabled to pro- 
duce the immense number of pictures that bear 
his name — thirteen hundred have been cata- 
logued. One student would paint nothing but 
landscapes, another all the animals, while the 
teacher put in the most important parts and 
added the finishing touches to the whole. There 
was no deceit in this method of working, for the 
amount of Eubens ' own work a given piece con- 
tained depended upon the price his clients were 
willing to pay. The design was always his, but 
those who paid the lowest price got nothing but 
the design from his hand, while his wealthy pa- 
trons who could afford the maximum received 
pieces that were entirely his own handiwork, 
and between the two extremes there were all 
grades of collaboration. 

Jacob Jordaens was one of the most famous 
of Eubens' pupils. It is said that "they are 
of the same family and the same temperament ; 
and Eubens stands between Jordaens and van 
Dyck. Eubens is gold, van Dyck silver, and 
Jordaens blood and fire." The latter was an 
indefatigable painter and a rapid worker, often 



200 The Spell of Belgium 

completing a portrait at a single sitting. He 
covered a wide range of subjects, religious, alle- 
gorical, landscapes, portraits and animals, and 
he succeeded so well that u there are Jordaens 
attributed to Rubens and Rubens to Jor- 
daens.' ' 

Anthony van Dyck was another pupil of the 
great master, and the aristocrat of the famous 
seventeenth century Flemings. He was only a 
boy among boys, quite undistinguished, until 
one day chancing to rub against a painting of 
his teacher's on which the paint was still wet, he 
retouched it so skilfully that it turned out bet- 
ter than before. In time he became so formi- 
dable a rival, in spite of his youth, that Rubens 
sent him off to Italy to study. He came back 
in four years, greater than ever. A few years 
later, Rubens contrived to have him called to 
England as court painter. During the time that 
he remained in Flanders he produced several 
religious pictures, among them the Raising of 
the Cross, at Courtrai, and a Crucifixion, which, 
before the war, was in the Cardinal's palace at 
Marines. The same Red Cross worker who res- 
cued the Rubens from destruction at Malines 
also brought away this composition, of which 
he says, that it had been cut out of its frame 
the day before, rolled up, and stowed away in 



Primitives and Later Painters 201 

the cellar. But van Dyck's best work was done 
in portraiture, and in this he was "nearly the 
equal of Titian." 

Van Dyck so quickly became a great favourite 
of Charles I that he was knighted within three 
months after going to England. He painted 
the King and Queen many times. The portrait 
of Charles I in the Louvre was done at the 
height of his skill. He loved to paint kings and 
nobles, in velvet and silken garments trimmed 
with rare old lace. For ten years he was court 
painter in England, and so many of his por- 
traits are still in the great houses there that a 
family portrait by van Dyck is said to be ' ' tan- 
tamount in England to a patent of nobility." 
After the execution of Charles, he went to Flan- 
ders and to Paris seeking commissions, but his 
popularity had waned, and he returned to Eng- 
land broken in health and spirit, and died there 
in 1641. His body rests in St. Paul's Ca- 
thedral. 

Van Dyck painted cavaliers, and he himself 
belonged to that type. His work is so individ- 
ual that it is easily recognized. A charming 
adventurer, a popular courtier, he was a fa- 
vourite of kings, was feted in foreign countries. 
At the close of his life, he is called "a man in 
ruins, who until his last hour has the good for- 



202 The Spell of Belgium 

tune, and this is the most extraordinary thing 
about him, to preserve his greatness when he 
paints." 

The annals of the seventeenth century are 
rilled with the names of a host of artists of more 
or less renown, followers of Kubens and van 
Dyck. But "for the Flemish school, the eight- 
eenth century is a long entr'acte, during which 
the stage, so nobly occupied of old, is sad and 
deserted." 

The modern Belgian school of art started in 
Antwerp after the Eevolution of 1830. At first 
it corresponded to the romantic movement in 
France, of which Delaroche was one of the lead- 
ers, but with this difference, that the Belgians 
chose their subjects for the most part from the 
age-long battle for freedom waged by their 
country. The most distinguished of these "ro- 
mantic" Belgian artists were Louis Galliat and 
Edouard Biefve. 

The "historic" and "archaic" schools of 
these modern painters included Leys and his 
followers, whose work is interesting because 
they sought to reproduce the characteristics of 
van Eyck and Memling. The frescos in the 
Antwerp town hall by Leys, illustrating the 
charters and the privileges of that city in olden 
times, are called by Max Rooses, "monumental 



Primitives and Later Painters 203 

creations by a great master of the art of paint- 
ing." Henri de Braekeleer had the art of in- 
vesting the most prosaic subjects with interest. 
He painted the ordinary things of daily life, a 
wine-shop, an old man at his printing, in a way 
that glorified them. 

The insane artist, Wiertz, thought himself the 
second Rubens, and produced a number of huge 
canvases. The Wiertz Museum had an aston- 
ishing collection of the works of this artist — 
paintings on every imaginable theme, ranging 
from "wild nightmares of the brain' ' to such 
impressive compositions as the Contest for the 
Body of Patroclus, after the manner of Eubens, 
and the Triumph of Christ, a sublime work 
showing great originality and wonderful power 
of execution. 

Much remarkably good restoration of paint- 
ings has been done by modern Belgian artists. 
An amusing story has come to me of an artist 
who was employed to touch up a large painting 
in an old church. When he presented his bill 
the committee in charge refused payment un- 
less the details were specified. Whereupon he 
presented the items as follows : 

To correcting the ten commandments $ 5.12 

To embellishing Pontius Pilate and putting new rib- 
bons on his hat 3.02 



204 The Spell of Belgium 

To putting new tail on rooster of St. Peter and 

mending- his comb 2.20 

To repluming and gilding left wing of the Guardian 

Angel 5.18 

To washing the servant of the High Piiest and 

putting carmine on his cheeks 5.02 

To renewing Heaven, adjusting the Stars and clean- 
ing up the moon 7.14 

To touching up Purgatory and restoring Lost Souls. 3.06 

To brightening up the flames of Hell and putting new 
tail on the Devil, mending his left hoof and doing 
several odd jobs for the damned 7.17 

To rebordering the robes of Herod and adjusting his 

wig 4.00 

To taking the spots off the son of Tobias 1.30 

To cleaning Balaam's Ass and putting new shoe on 

him 1.70 

To putting rings in Sarah's ears 1.71 

To putting new stone in David's sling and enlarging 

the head of Goliath and extending Saul's legs .... 6.13 

To decorating Noah's Ark and putting head on Shem 4.31 

To mending the shirt of the Prodigal Son and clean- 
ing his ear 3.39 



$60.45 



Belgium has lost none of her interest in ar- 
tistic expression. At the Academy in Antwerp, 
there were about two thousand art students be- 
fore the war, and about sixteen thousand in all 
Belgium. Perhaps the most noted living paint- 
ers at that time were Stevens and Wauters, and 
Madame Eonner, who was famous for her pic- 



Primitives and Later Painters 205 

tures of cats. The studio of Blanc-Grin, in 
Brussels, was the center of present-day paint- 
ers when we were there. 

Belgium has never been so famous for its 
sculptors as for its painters. Among the mod- 
erns, Jef Lambeaux took high rank, but Con- 
stantin Meunier, of Liege, was perhaps the 
greatest. "He was par excellence," says Max 
Eooses, "the sculptor of the workman: first of 
the Hainault coal-miner, then of the worker of 
all trades and countries. . . . He finally arrived 
at investing his models with truly classic 
beauty. They became the heroes of a grand 
drama, now commanding the flames of tall fur- 
naces and measuring their strength with the 
most terrible of the elements, now cutting the 
corn and tying it in sheaves, defying the almost 
equally murderous heat of the sun. ' ' 

In a notice of the Eoyal Academy Exhibition 
in London, in May of the present year, we read, 
"Almost the only work universally praised in 
the press reviews of the opening day is by a 
Belgian sculptor, Egide Eombeaux. It is a 
statue of more than life size, entitled ' Premier 
Morning. ' " One critic says, that outside the 
charmed circle where Rodin reigns supreme, no 
sculpture more remarkable in originality and 
poetry of conception has been seen of late years 



206 The Spell of Belgium 

in a public exhibition. Belgian art has not lost 
its vitality. Will it not emerge from its bap- 
tism of fire with the consecration of a noble pur- 
pose to express the honour, the patriotism, the 
self-sacrifice, that have glorified the land! 



CHAPTER XI 

LA JETJNE BELGIQUE IN LETTEES 

ALTHOUGH for many, perhaps most, of 
my readers, Belgian literature is summed 
up in the one word, Maeterlinck, it is 
nevertheless true that the writers of this little 
country have been no unworthy spokesmen for 
so sturdy and independent a race. Even when 
the nation lay stupefied in the relentless grasp 
of Spain, among the exiles who sought refuge in 
Holland was at least one poet, Vondel, who is 
remembered with pride today. 

From the earliest days of Belgian fable the 
name of the chronicler, Lucius de Tongres, has 
come down to us. Like many another monk, he 
wrote in his humble cell the annals of the war- 
ring tribes. We think of the Nibelungen Lied 
as the especial property of Germany, but ' ' The 
epic of the Franks belongs to our provinces," 
says the Belgian writer, Potvin, "and the Sieg- 
fried of the Nibelungen is called the hero of the 
Low Countries/' 

Later, when troubadour and trouvere sang of 

207 



208 The Spell of Belgium 

love and war from Provence to Normandy, there 
were minstrels also in the castles of Flanders 
and Brabant. Jean Bodel of Arras, in his 
"Chansons des Saxons," sang of resistance to 
the power of Charlemagne, and it was the trou- 
veres of the Walloon country who first bor- 
rowed from the Britons the cycle of the Table 
Ronde* The greatest poet of the reign of 
Philip of Alsace, at the end of the twelfth cen- 
tury, was Chrestien de Troyes, a native of Bra- 
bant, whose writings were imitated in England 
and Germany. 

The "Chambers of Rhetoric," formed in the 
sixteenth century to provide entertainment for 
the people, exerted so great an influence in pro- 
moting a taste for art and literature among Bel- 
gians in general that our own Motley could find 
nothing with which to compare it except the 
power of the press in the nineteenth century. 
These chambers were really theatrical guilds, 
composed almost entirely of artisans, and they 
not only produced plays and recited original 
poetry but also arranged pageants and musi- 
cal festivals. In 1456, the Adoration of the 
Lamb was reproduced as a tableau vivant by 
the chamber of rhetoric at Ghent. The ' ' Seven 
Joys of Mary" was given at Brussels for seven 
years, beginning in 1444, and was the best acted 



La Jeune Belgique in Letters 209 

mystery of that time. Jean Buysbroeck was 
called the "Father of Flemish Prose," while 
Jean le Bel (a "Walloon) started a school of 
writers which rivaled that of France. 

The treatment these rhetoricians received 
from the Spanish sovereigns is sufficient proof 
that they were the mouthpiece of the people and 
voiced their aspirations for freedom in both 
church and state — Charles V was their persecu- 
tor, Philip II their executioner. 

When the long struggle with Spain ended in 
the subjugation of the Spanish Netherlands and 
art and literature were stifled in the southern 
provinces of the Low Countries, Vondel, the 
Fleming, produced in his safe retreat in Hol- 
land plays which are worthy of notice today. 
About the same time the poet who is known as 
"le pere des Flamands, le Vieux Cats," had 
many followers, and his works were so popular 
that they were called "The Household Bible." 

Another exile, Jacques van Zevecote, a native 
of Ghent, who also emigrated to Holland dur- 
ing the Spanish oppression, was a great poet. 
His hatred of Spain found expression in these 
vigorous lines: — 

"The snow will cease to be cold, 
The summer deprived of the rays 
Of the sun, the clouds will be 



210 The Spell of Belgium 

Immovable, the huge sand-hills on the shore 
Leveled, the fire will cease to burn, 
Before you will find good faith 
In the bosom of a Spaniard." 

Under Napoleon the chambers of rhetoric 
were revived. In 1809, the concours of Ypres 
celebrated a "hero of the country." In 1810, 
Alost called on Belgian poets to sing "The 
Glory of the Belgians.' ' A young poet named 
Lesbroussart won the prize in a fine poem full 
of the old national spirit of the race. Jenneval, 
the author of the "Brabangonne," the national 
anthem, was killed in a battle between the Dutch 
and the Belgians outside Antwerp, in the revolu- 
tion of 1830. 

About 1844 Abbe David, and Willems, a free 
thinker, started literary societies, and later fol- 
lowed Henri Conscience and Ledeganck. Lede- 
ganck was called the Flemish Byron, and an- 
other poet, van Beers of Antwerp, was often 
compared to Shelley. To the early years of 
free Belgium belonged also Charles de Coster, 
whom Verhaeren calls "the father of Belgian 
literature. ' ' 

Henri Conscience, the Walter Scott of Flan- 
ders, was born in 1812, when Belgium was un- 
der the rule of France. His father was a French- 
man, his mother a Fleming. He first wrote 



La Jeune Belgique in Letters 211 

in French, bnt in 1830 he said, "If ever I gain 
the power to write, I shall throw myself head 
over ears into Flemish literature." In 1830 
he volunteered as a soldier in the army of Bel- 
gian patriots. 

His first historical romance, "Het Wonder- 
Jaar," written in Flemish, is said to have been 
"the foundation-stone on which arose the new 
Flemish school of literature. ' ' His two finest 
historical novels, "The Lion of Flanders" and 
"The Peasants' War," describe the revolt of 
the Flemings against French despotism, for "to 
raise Flanders was to him a holy aim." The 
net profit to the author from the first of these 
books was six francs ! 

The most artistic work that Conscience ever 
did, however, is found in his tales of Flemish 
peasant life, one of which, " i Rikke-Tikke- 
Tak,' " says William Sharp, "has not only been 
rendered into every European tongue, but 
has been paraphrased to such an extent that 
variants of it occur, in each instance as an in- 
digenous folk-tale, in every land, from Great 
Britain in the west to India and even China in 
the east." Conscience says of himself, "I 
write my books to be read by the people. . . . 
I have sketched the Flemish peasant as he ap- 
peared to me . . . when, hungry and sick, I en- 



212 The SpeU of Belgium 

joyed hospitality and the tenderest care among 
them." 

" After a European success ranking only 
after that of Scott, Balzac, Dumas, Hugo, and 
Hans Andersen, Henri Conscience is still," 
wrote William Sharp in 1896, thirteen years 
after the great Fleming's death, "a name of 
European repute; is still, in his own country, 
held in the highest honour and affection." 

The Walloon country provided the historians, 
of whom Vanderkindere was one of the ablest. 
Charles Potvin, born at Mons in 1818, was a 
Walloon journalist and prolific writer on a va- 
riety of subjects. He held the position of pro- 
fessor of the history of literature at the Royal 
Museum of Industry in Brussels, was director 
of the Revue de Belgique, which he founded, 
and was curator of the Wiertz Museum in Brus- 
sels. He was poet, writer on political subjects, 
historian of art and literature, critic and essay- 
ist ; ' ' a power in Belgian politics and literature, 
a leader of democrats and free-thinkers." In 
his long life — he died in 1902 — he produced a 
great number of works, among which were ' ' La 
Belgique," a poem, the "History of Civiliza- 
tion in Belgium," the "History of Literature 
in Belgium ? " and a work on "Belgian National- 
ity." 



La Jeune Belgique in Letters 213 

Camille Lemonnier, of Liege, wrote three or . 
four novels before 1880. He was a brilliant 
writer, who " touched modern society at almost 
every point' ' in his books, but will perhaps be 
remembered chiefly as the doyen of the little 
band of "la jeune Belgique." 

The students at Louvain in 1880, with their 
rival magazines, really laid * ' the foundation of 
a literature which is in many respects the most 
remarkable of contemporary Europe." At the 
head stand Maeterlinck and Verhaeren. Ed- 
mond Glesener, a hero of Liege, is well known 
for his novels. 

In 1887, with the publication of the periodical, 
La Parnasse de la Jeune Belgique, began a 
renaissance of poetry, which became distinctly 
modern Belgian in character. Maurice Warle- 
mont (Max Waller) was the generally recog- 
nized founder of this paper. Verhaeren and 
other noted contributors also wrote for the 
Pleiade, which was a famous Parisian periodical 
at that time. 

Maeterlinck is the best known of these mod- 
ern Belgian writers, for many of his plays have 
been well translated into English, and some 
have been produced with great success in this 
country. He wrote at first in Flemish, but soon 
changed to French. I admire his symbolic and 



214 The Spell of Belgium 

allegorical language, so mysterious and full of 
charm. It is said of his earlier poems that 
"they require a key and are not literature but 
algebra/ ' Maeterlinck "has the happy faculty 
of making people think they think." 

Apropos of this mysticism of Maeterlinck's 
I may give the bon mot of a witty Frenchman 
in regard to the Jeune Ecole Beige. He said 
that their ambition was to write obscurely, and 
if the first writing seemed easy to understand, 
they would scratch it out, and try again. At 
the second attempt, if no one could understand 
it but the writer — that was still too simple. If 
the public could not understand the third, nor 
the writer himself, it was quite perfect. 

Maurice Maeterlinck was born on August 29, 
1862. As a boy, he lived at Oostacker, in Flan- 
ders, and was sent to the College of Sainte 
Barbe, a Jesuit school, where he studied for 
seven years. Among his friends in this college 
was Jean Gregoire le Roi, who later became a 
well-known poet. Even in those days Maeter- 
linck contributed to a literary review, and like 
Verhaeren, he studied for the bar. At the age 
of twenty-four he went to Paris, where he con- 
tinued his friendship with le Roi. Maeterlinck 
had a thin, harsh voice, which was much against 
him as a lawyer, and he soon gave up that pro- 




MAURICE MAETERLINCK. 



La Jeune Belgique in Letters 215 

f ession and turned his entire attention to litera- 
ture. He is short, stocky, Flemish in appear- 
ance, but is a dreamer, shy, solitary, and moody. 

In 1889, his first book of poems, "Serres 
Chaudes," was published. After this he re- 
turned to Oostacker, and when he was not writ- 
ing tended his bees, which have always inter- 
ested him. 

In reading his earlier poems, I find they are 
principally concerned with souls, hothouses, and 
hospitals. Some of them have a strange pro- 
phetic note, and are also good examples of his 
style. 1 

This is an extract from "The Soul": 

"And lo, it seems I am with my mother, 
Crossing a field of battle. 
They are burying a brother-in-arms at noon, 
While the sentinels are snatching a meal." 

The same strain is found in this bit from 
"The Hospital": 

"All the lovely green rushes of the banks are in flames 
And a boat full of wounded men is tossing in the moon- 
light! 
All the king's daughters are out in a boat in the storm ! 
And the princesses are dying in a field of hemlock!" 

Here is another passage. Does it not make 
one wonder what its meaning can be? 

i Translated by Edward Thomas. 



216 The Spell of Belgium 

"Do you not hear me calling, white deer with no horns? 
I have been changed to a hound with one red ear; 
I have been in the path of stones and the wood of thorns, 
For somebody hid hatred, and ho]:>e, and desire, and fear 
Under my feet that they follow you night and day." 

From 1889 to 1896 Maeterlinck wrote many 
poems and eight plays. His first play, "La 
Princesse Maleine," was a masterpiece, and is 
said to have made an "epoch in the history of 
the stage." The author was named the Belgian 
Shakespeare. Many of his plays, however, 
have a fairy-like and unreal quality, so they 
have been termed ' ' bloodless ' ' or unhealthy. A 
short synopsis of "La Princesse Maleine" will 
give an idea of the plot. 

The scene opens at the betrothal banquet of 
the young Princess Maleine. The fathers of 
the two young people quarrel over the arrange- 
ments. The betrothal is broken, and war is de- 
clared between their countries. In the attack 
on the castle, in the next act, the mother and fa- 
ther of the Princess are killed, and she disap- 
pears with her nurse into the forest. While 
escaping, she hears that her lover is to wed an- 
other. She decides then that she will try to ob- 
tain a position as her rival's attendant and 
learn the truth. 

As she is very beautiful, she succeeds in ar- 



La Jeune Belgique in Letters 217 

ranging it, and is taken to her rival's castle. 
The young Prince discovers Maleine 's identity, 
and realizes that, after all, she is the only one he 
really loves. The mother of the spurned prin- 
cess determines to poison Maleine, but the phy- 
sician does not make the potion deadly, and as 
she sickens slowly, the wicked queen, tired of 
waiting for her death, twists a cord of hair 
around Maleine 's neck and kills her. The scene 
of the last act is the cemetery near the castle 
where Maleine 's funeral is going on. The lover 
stabs the Queen in revenge for the girPs mur- 
der, and then kills himself. The animals in the 
play all appear. The black hound is there, bats 
and moles gather about ; swans are seen in the 
castle moat, and peacocks among the cypresses ; 
owls perch on the crosses, and sheep graze near 
the tombstone. 

Among Maeterlinck's books of essays the 
best known are "The Bee," "The Unknown 
Guest," and "Our Eternity." In one of his 
essays he writes that he loves the idea of silence 
so much that the words of the people in his plays 
1 ' often seem no more than swallows flying about 
a deep and still lake, whose surface they ruffle 
seldom and but for a moment. ' ' 

Maeterlinck has continued writing poems and 
essays as well as plays. The two dramas called, 



218 The Spell of Belgium 

"Palleas" and "Melisande" were put on the 
stage in 1893, and were greatly praised. In 
1902 appeared "Le Temple Enseveli. ,, "Le 
Tresor des Humbles" was dedicated to Geor- 
gette Le Blanc, an actress, who helped him write 
it. Later they were married and settled in 
Paris. Here he lived a quiet life, writing con- 
stantly, and was seen by only a few of his 
friends. 

"Monna Vanna" was his first play in which 
the action was assigned to a definite period. It 
was supposed to take place at the end of the 
fifteenth century. A few years ago, it was well 
given in this country, Mary Garden impersonat- 
ing the heroine. Her rendering of the part was 
widely discussed. "Sister Beatrice" was also 
produced in America, and "Mary Magdalene" 
has been translated into English, as well as 
"The Bluebird." The last named was beauti- 
fully given in New York, and was superbly 
staged and very spectacular. It was so artistic, 
so original and mysterious, and unlike anything 
that one had ever seen before, you knew at once 
that it was the work of Maeterlinck. People 
swarmed to see it, people went to hear it read, 
and people took it home to read. 

Maeterlinck is now over fifty years old, and 
is at the height of his popularity. He spends 



La Jeune Belgique in Letters 219 

the winter at Katchema, near Grasse, in the 
south of France, the summers at the ancient 
Benedictine Abbey of St. Wandrille. During 
the war he has been lecturing in behalf of his 
native country. 

I quote from an address made by him in 
Milan: "It is not for me to recall here the 
facts which hurled Belgium into the abyss of 
glorious distress where she now struggles. She 
has been punished, as no nation ever was pun- 
ished, for doing her duty as no nation ever did 
it. She has saved the world, in the full knowl- 
edge that she could not be saved. 

"She saved the world by throwing herself 
across the path of the barbarian horde, by allow- 
ing herself to be trampled to death in order to 
give the champions of justice the necessary time, 
not to succour her — she was aware that she 
could not be succoured in time — but to assemble 
troops enough to free Latin civilization from 
the greatest danger with which it has ever been 
threatened. 

1 * The spectacle of an entire people, great and 
humble, rich and poor, savants and unlettered, 
sacrificing themselves deliberately for some- 
thing which is invisible — that, I declare, has 
never been seen before, and I say it without fear 
that any one can contradict me by searching 



220 The Spell of Belgium 

through the history of mankind. They did 
what had never been done before, and it is to be 
hoped, for the good of mankind, that no nation 
may ever be called upon again to do it. " 

Among other well-known Belgian authors 
Eugene Demolder may be mentioned. In his 
historical novel, "Le Jardinier de la Pompa- 
dour," he has made the eighteenth century live 
again in pages "vibrant with prismatic col- 
ours." A charming characteristic of this book 
is the exquisite pictures of flowers and woods. 
The critic Gilbert quotes a page, of which he 
says, "It opens the story like a whiff of per- 
fumes, for it symbolizes the charm and the fresh- 
ness of rural France in flower." 

The works of Leopold Courouble are greatly 
enjoyed. He represents the humour of Bra- 
bangon fiction. As the old painters of Flanders 
gave expression to Flemish gaiety in their im- 
mortal canvases, so has Courouble concentrated 
in "Les Fiangailles de Joseph Kaekebroeck" 
the whole spirit of a race. 

Le Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul is 
noted as a critic and essayist, and has had five 
of his works crowned by the French Academy. 
Henri Pirenne, author of "Histoire de la Bel- 
gique," is at the head of the list of Belgian his- 
torians today. (There have been a number of 



La Jeune Belgique in Letters 221 

patriotic books written foreshadowing this war. 
Balzac wrote " France et Belgique," and it has 
been said that Balzac was the inspiration of the 
modern writers of Belgium.) 

Gregoire le Boi, Maeterlinck's friend, is de- 
scribed by Bithell as "the poet of retrospec- 
tion" — "the hermit bowed down by silver hair, 
bending at eventide over the embers of the past, 
visited by weird guests draped with legend." 
It is said "the weft of his verse is torn by trans- 
lation, it cannot be grasped, it is wafted through 
shadows." 

Charles van Lerberghe wrote his play of the 
new school, "Les Flaireurs," in 1889, before 
Maeterlinck had published anything, but his 
work resembles the latter 's somewhat in style. 
He was born in 1862, of a Flemish father and a 
Walloon mother, which resulted in a sort of dual 
personality. Van Lerberghe was "a man for 
whom modern life had no more existence than 
for a mediaeval recluse," and he passed his hap- 
piest years in an old-world village in the Ar- 
dennes. He died in 1907, having published be- 
sides the play already mentioned, only three 
little books of poetry, "Entrevisions," "La 
Chanson d'Eve," and "Pan" — small but classic. 
Maeterlinck speaks of his verse as having a sort 
of "lyric silence, a quality of sound such as we 



222 The Spell of Belgium 

have not heard in our French poetry." The 
early poems of Rossetti are suggested by his 
work. 

"If poetry is music van Lerberghe is a poet. 
The charm of his verses is unique,' ' writes 
Bithell. Are not these stanzas on "Bain" ex- 
quisite I 

"The rain, my sister dear, 
The summer rain, warm and clear, 
Gently flees, gently flies, 
Through the moist atmosphere. 

"Her collar of white pearls 

Has come undone in the skies. 

Blackbirds, sing with all your might, 

Dance, magpies! 

Among the branches downward pressed, 

Dance, flowers, dance, every nest, 

All that comes from the skies is blest." 

"Fernand Severin, who was lecturer in 
French literature at the University of Ghent, is 
a poet of great charm. His diction is appar- 
ently that of Racine, but in substance he is es- 
sentially modern." The following lines, from 
the translation by Bithell, will give an idea of 
the grace and beauty of his style : 

"Her sweet voice was a music in mine ear; 
And in the perfume of the atmosphere 
Which, in that eve, her shadowy presence shed, 
'Sister of mystery/ trembling I said, 



La Jeune Belgique in Letters 223 

'Too like an angel to be what you seem, 
Go not away too soon, beloved dream !' " 

Albert Mockel is a fine musician and an excel- 
lent critic, as well as a good poet, a combination 
which is very rare. He is learned, subtle md 
brilliant. ' ' Chant ef able nn pen Naive" and 
"Clartes" contain musical notations of 
rhythms. 

I give here part of one of his poems called 

THE CHANDELIER 

"Jewels, ribbons, naked necks, 

And the living bouquet that the corsage decks; 

Women, undulating the soft melody 

Of gestures languishing, surrendering — 

And the vain, scattered patter of swift words — 

Silken vestures floating, faces bright, 

Furtive converse, gliding glances, futile kiss 

Of eyes that flitting round alight like birds, 

And flee, and come again coquettishly ; 

Laughter, and lying . . . and all flying away 

To the strains that spin the frivolous swarm around." 

I also give an extract from his "Song of Kun- 
ning Water, ' ' that is quite lovely. 

"0 forest! sweet forest, thou invitest me to rest 
And linger in thy shade with moss and shavegrass dressed, 
Imprisoning me in swoon of soft caresses 
That o'er me droop thy dense and leafy tresses." 

"Verhaeren is the triumph of the Belgian 
race, the greatest of modern poets/ ' writes 



224 The Spell of Belgium 

Stefan Zweig, who has translated many of his 
works. Verhaeren is nmch admired by the Ger- 
mans and Austrians, but is not so well known in 
this country, as few of his books have been 
translated into English. As Kubens with his 
brush depicted carousals and excesses, so did 
Verhaeren depict the wildness and madness of 
youth with his clever pen. 

Emile Verhaeren was born in Flanders at St. 
Amand on the Scheldt, the twenty-first of May, 
1855. His parents were considered well-to-do 
and owned a house and garden of their own on 
the edge of the town, overlooking the yellow 
cornfields and the wide river. It was here 
Emile 's boyhood was spent, watching the peas- 
ants sow and reap, and the white sails of the 
boats slowly drifting down to the great ocean. 
He was blue-eyed and golden-haired in those 
days. The people loved him then, and they love 
him now. As a boy he was sent to the Jesuit 
College of Sainte Barbe, in Ghent, and it was 
hoped that he might in time join the order. 
There he began writing verses, and there too 
he met the poet, Georges Rodenbach, and Mae- 
terlinck and Charles van Lerberghe, all of 
whom later became famous. Emile refused to 
become a priest and he did not wish to enter his 
uncle's workshop, so when his courses were fin- 




EMTLE VERHAEREN. 



\ 



La Jeune Belgique in Letters 225 

ished at Sainte Barbe, lie was sent to Louvain to 
study law. His student days were wild in the 
extreme. 

In 1881 he went to Brussels to practice, but 
he was not a success as a. lawyer. Here he met 
artists and authors, and like many poets became 
eccentric in his dress. "Les Flamandes" is 
the name of his first book. When it. was pub- 
lished his conservative parents were scandalized 
and the critics were^very severe, but all had to 
admit the primitive vitality and savage strength 
of his work. "Les Moines" is his second book. 
These sonnets describe the monks and are unlike 
his other poems. 

As Verhaeren was unbridled in his studies as 
well as his follies, he had a severe nervous 
breakdown. While convalescing he wrote "Les 
Soirs, Les Debacles, Les Flambeaux Noirs," 
which are extraordinary descriptions of his 
physical and mental sensations during his ill- 
ness. 

After he recovered he married and traveled in 
Europe and in England. Then for a time he 
gave lectures at the Universite Libre in Brus- 
sels. 

"Les Villes Tentacula^es," which describes 
the monster city, is called magnificent. "Les 
Aubes" and the "Campagnes Hallucinees ,, 



226 The Spell of Belgium 

were published at the same time, and "La 
Foule ' ' and ' ' Vers la Mer ' ' in the book entitled 
"Les Visages de la Vie" are also fine. 

Among Verhaeren's plays, "Le dottre^ is 
taken from his book of poems, called "Les 
Moines. " It is peculiar in having no woman in 
the cast, but it was well given and proved suc- 
cessful. ' ' Les Aubes ' ' and * ' Helene de Sparte ' ' 
were others of his plays. 

The three following poems by this author are 
marvelous pieces of description and thoroughly 
characteristic of Belgium: 

A CORNER OF THE QUAY 

"When the wind sulks, and the dune dries, 
The old salts with uneasy eyes 
Hour after hour peer at the skies. 

"All are silent; their hands turning, 
A brown juice from their lips they wipe; 
Never a sound save, in their pipe, 

The dry tobacco burning. 

"That storm the almanac announces, 

Where is it 1 ? They are puzzled. 
The sea has smoothed her flounces. 

Winter is muzzled. 

"The cute ones shake their pate, 

And cross their arms, and puff, 
But mate by mate they wait, 
And think the squall is late, 

But coming sure enough. 



La Jeune Belgique in Letters 227 

"With fingers slow, sedate, 

Their finished pipe they fill; 
Pursuing, every salt, 
Without a minute's halt, 

The same idea still. 

"A boat sails up the bay, 
As tranquil as the day; 
Its keel a long net trails, 
Covered with glittering scales. 

"Out come the men: What ho? 

When will the tempest come? 

With pipe in mouth, still dumb, 
With bare foot on sabot, 
The salts wait in a row. 

"Here they lounge about, 
Where all year long the stout 

Fishers' dames 

Sell, from their wooden frames, 
Herrings and anchovies, 
And by each stall a stove is, 

To warm them with its flames. 

"Here they spit together, 
Spying out the weather. 

Here they yawn and doze; 
Backs bent with many a squall, 

Rubbing it in rows, 
Grease the wall. 

"And though the almanac 

Is wrong about the squall, 
The old salts lean their back 

Against the wall, 
And wait in rows together, 
Watching the sea and the weather." 



228 The Spell of Belgium 

FOGS 

"You melancholy fogs of winter roll 

Your pestilential sorrow o'er my soul, 

And swathe my heart with your long winding sheet, 

And drench the livid leaves beneath my feet, 

While far away upon the heaven's bounds, 

Under the sleeping plain's wet wadding, sounds 

A tired, lamenting angelus that dies 

With faint, frail echoes in the empty skies, 

So lonely, poor, and timid that a rook, 

Hid in a hollow archstone's dripping nook, 

Hearing it sob, awakens and replies, 

Sickening the woeful hush with ghastly cries, 

Then suddenly grows silent, in the dread, 

That in the belfry tower the bell is dead." 

THE OLD MASTERS 

"In smoky inns whose loft is reached by ladders, 

And with a grimy ceiling splashed by shocks 
Of hanging hams, black puddings, onions, bladders, 

Rosaries of stuffed game, capons, geese, and cocks, 
Around a groaning table sit the gluttons 

Before the bleeding viands stuck with forks, 
Already loosening their waistcoat buttons, 

With wet mouths when from flagons leap the corks — 
Teniers, and Brackenburgh, and Brauwer, shaken 

With listening to Jan Steen's uproarious wit, 
Holding their bellies dithering with bacon, 

Wiping their chins, watching the hissing spit. 

"Men, women, children, all stuffed full to bursting; 

Appetites ravening, and instincts rife, 
Furies of stomach, and of throats athirsting, 

Debauchery, explosion of rich life, 



La Jeune Belgique in Letters 229 

In which these master gluttons, never sated, 

Too genuine for insipidities, 
Pitching their easels lustily, created 
Between two drinking bouts a masterpiece." 

Even amid the ruins of their country, Belgian 
writers, like the Belgian people, are indomitable. 
Verhaeren, from his retreat in London, sends 
out words that are a pa^an of victory, and the 
bugle note of "Chantons, Beiges, chantons!" 
by another author, is a call to great deeds in the 
future. 



CHAPTER XII 

MOTORING IN FLANDERS 

"0 little towns, obscure and quaint, 
Writ on the map in script so faint, 

Today in types how large, how red, 
On battle scroll your titles spread!" 

BRUSSELS is ideally located for the motor- 
ist. From it both the Flemish and the 
Walloon districts could easily be reached. 
To be sure, the towns were paved with the fa- 
mous Belgian blocks, but the roads outside the 
towns were in excellent condition. One of our 
favourite trips was to Antwerp, where we went 
often, either to meet people landing from steam- 
ers from America or to look up boxes shipped 
us from home. 

A bit aside from the direct route between the 
two cities, but well worth going out of one's 
way to see, was Louvain. Baedeker speaks of 
it as " a dull place with 42,000 inhabitants," but 
we found it delightful. It was a pretty old 
town, with its richly fretted Hotel de Ville, the 

230 



Motoring in Flanders 231 

finest in Belgium, its university and library, its 
impressive church in the center of the city, and 
the innumerable other gray old churches with 
their long sloping roofs. The streets were nar- 
row, picturesque and rather dirty. They were 
lined with the high walls and closed windows of 
convent after convent, and there were huge clus- 
ters of monastic buildings on the hills about, 
many of these newly built and modern. The 
whole town seethed with black-robed priests, 
brown-robed, bare-footed monks, and white- 
coped nuns. 

In the Middle Ages i^ouvain had four times 
its present population; its once famous univer- 
sity had diminished in the same proportion. 
There was a time when no man might hold pub- 
lic office in the Austrian Netherlands who did 
not have a degree from the University of Lou- 
vain. 

Of the two thousand cloth factories which 
made the city a hive of industry during the thir- 
teen hundreds but little sign remained when we 
were there. During the fifteenth century it was 
the largest city west of the Alps. The walls 
were built at the period of greatest prosperity, 
and much of the land which they inclosed had 
been turned into gardens, showing how the pop- 
ulation had decreased. It was said that how- 



232 The Spell of Belgium 

ever much outward change there had been, how- 
ever, in the Abbey of the White Canons the 
spirit of "religious medievalism" was still to 
be found, untouched by modern thought. 

Southey describes the town hall at Louvain as 
an "architectural bijou . . . like a thing of 
ivory or filigree designed for a lady's dressing 
table.' ' This building seems to have passed 
through the war unscathed. But the famous 
library of the university, which was one of the 
most noted in Europe, containing over a hun- 
dred thousand rare manuscripts, was com- 
pletely destroyed. 

Not far from Brussels, and on the direct road 
to Antwerp, is Vilvorde, a small town, chiefly 
noted as the scene of the martyrdom of Tyndale, 
the famous Englishman who attempted the 
translation of the Bible, and for this was im- 
prisoned and later burned at the stake by the 
Church. His last words were, "Lord, open the 
King of England's eyes!" It seems as if his 
prayer must have been heard, because within a 
year — in 1537 — the King ordered the publica- 
tion of the Bible and its use in all the churches 
of the land. 

Halfway between Brussels and Antwerp is 
Malines, perhaps better known to us by its Dutch 
name of Mechlin. Every house had its maker 



Motoring in Flanders 233 

of lace; they could be seen on pleasant days 
sitting on low stools out of doors among the 
flowers, singing as they worked. 

The tower of the beautiful old cathedral, 
which was erected in 1312, was intended to be 
the highest in all Christendom, but was never 
completed. Its carillon, however, was second 
only to that of Bruges. The church was dedi- 
cated to St. Eombaut, who was supposed to have 
built it. The story was that in paying his work- 
men he never took from his pockets more than 
ten cens at a time, and the men, thinking he 
must have a large number of the coins upon his 
person, murdered him for the booty. To their 
disappointment they found he had just one coin, 
for the saint, each time he needed money, had 
worked a miracle similar to that of Jesus and 
the fishes ! A discrepancy of some three or four 
hundred years between the time of the good 
saint's life and the building of the church is a 
trifle confusing. This cathedral has been de- 
stroyed. 

We set out for a direct trip to Antwerp one 
morning at eight, and reached there after a fine 
run of an hour and a half through the fair 
green country. All along the way the towns 
were gaily decorated and beflagged for a holi- 
day. The city itself was alive with traffic, while 



234 The Spell of Belgium 

the river and the canals were crowded with mov- 
ing boats. 

Just opposite the station was the famous Zoo. 
A band concert was going on, and crowds sat 
drinking tea or beer beneath the trees, listening 
to the music, which was interrupted every once 
in a while by the raucous cry of some wild crea- 
ture in its cage. All the animals were killed 
before the siege of the city in October. 

A service was being held in the great cathe- 
dral. There was lovely music, and a solemn 
light fell on Bubens' great masterpiece. The 
church was two hundred and fifty years in 
building, and is the largest in the Low Coun- 
tries. Fortunately we can still use the present 
tense in speaking of Antwerp Cathedral, for it 
survived both the bombardment and the con- 
flagration that ensued. 

Antwerp came into prominence only after 
Bruges, Ghent and Ypres entered upon their 
long decline. The architectural gem of the city 
was the Plantyn-Moretus Museum, once the 
printing works of Christopher Plantyn and his 
son-in-law Moretus, who did such notable work 
in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 
The rooms of the old house had been restored 
quite in the old style, so that you felt the quiet, 
peaceful atmosphere of other days. 




CORNER OF THE COURTYARD, PLANT YN-MORETUS MUSEUM, ANTWERP. 



Motoring in Flanders 235 

The history of Antwerp goes back some thir- 
teen hundred years, but it was not until the 
seventeenth century that it gained the right to 
be called the richest and most prosperous city 
in Europe. After that it, too, like so many of 
its sister cities, fell asleep ; but these days were 
of brief duration, for in the middle of the nine- 
teenth century the Belgian Government bought 
the right to use the Scheldt, and it awoke to 
new life. When the war broke out it was the 
greatest port on the continent, and surpassed 
only by London and New York in the world. 

Its social life was a striking contrast to that 
of Brussels, for it was strongly Flemish in 
thought and feeling, as well as in speech, while 
the national capital was like a French city. 

Antwerp was of great strategic importance, 
for the mouth of the Scheldt is opposite the 
mouth of the Thames. Napoleon realized this. 
"Antwerp might be made a pistol directed at 
the heart of England, ' ' he said. Indeed, before 
it fell into the hands of the Germans a military 
expert prophesied that within two months of its 
fall the English would be suing for peace. The 
city had been made the chief arsenal of Belgium, 
and one of the strongest fortresses in Europe. 
At the beginning of the attack the suburbs, 
which were particularly beautiful, were de- 



236 The Spell of Belgium 

stroyed and covered with pits and wire entan- 
glements by the defenders. Tens of millions of 
dollars' worth of property was laid waste, and 
nothing gained, for the city was bombarded 
from a distance and no infantry attacks were 
made. 

One summer day we started out in the motor 
for Ostend. Out across the flat country, 
through forests and fields and villages, we 
passed through Termonde where, a few centu- 
ries before, they had opened the sluices and 
driven back the army of Louis XIV by flooding 
the country. 

Ghent was our first stopping place. In the 
Cathedral of St. Bavon hung the Adoration of 
the Lamb, by the van Eycks — the most cele- 
brated of Belgium's pictures. A few buildings 
still remained which recalled the former glory 
of the burghers of Ghent. Among them was 
the gray pile of the chateau of the counts of 
Flanders, a splendid specimen of the residences 
of the great lords in the magnificent Burgun- 
dian days. It was built for the purpose of 
overawing the headstrong citizens, and had on 
one side the moated river and on the other the 
square which saw so many tragedies of the In- 
quisition. 

It is a picturesque city with its network of 



Motoring in Flanders 237 

canals. Its Beguinage, a religious home for 
older women with little means, is a small world 
in itself. It consists of a group of houses of 
different sizes, each with its own little garden 
in front, shut in by high brick walls. Through 
the community flows a stream where the 
women do their washing from a boat, spread- 
ing the linen to dry in an open, park-like space 
reserved for that use. The women who live 
there belong to a religious order, but are bound 
by no vows and are free to leave if they choose. 
Their special mission is to nurse the sick, whom 
they care for either in their own homes, or in 
the Beguinage. Because of its many gardens 
Ghent was often called the City of Flowers. 
Maeterlinck said of it, "It is the soul of Flan- 
ders, at once venerable and young. In its 
streets the past and present elbow each other.' ' 
This may be due to the fact that while it is an 
ancient city, it had before the war experienced a 
return of its former prosperity, so that it was, 
in comparison with Bruges, for instance, quite 
lively and up-to-date. Its great canals gave it 
access to the sea and to other cities, and its 
various industries were thriving. The story of 
Ghent is the usual tumultuous chronicle of 
Flemish towns. The weavers who early made 
their city famous were an independent lot, not 



238 The Spell of Belgium 

easily governed against their will. When not 
fighting outsiders they were usually struggling 
for more rights and privileges for themselves. 
During the Middle Ages Ghent's great leader, 
van Artevelde, was treated as an equal by Ed- 
ward III of England. The belfry was the sym- 
bol of their freedom, and it served as a watch- 
tower — a necessity in a country where there 
are no hills — and to give alarm at the approach 
of an enemy. On the great bell, Roland, is the 
inscription : ' ' My name is Roland. When I toll 
there is fire. When I ring there is victory in 
Flanders.' ' They tell you now how, shortly 
after the Germans entered Belgium, some one 
tried to ring the mighty bell and discovered that 
it was cracked. 

We found the old town of Bruges, which lies 
between Ghent and Ostend, more attractive 
than we had expected. Indeed it was perhaps 
the most interesting town in Belgium, and the 
most picturesque. One doesn't easily forget 
the squares with their handsome faQades, the 
ancient Beguinage with its tottering old women, 
or the lovely Lac d 'Amour, which was once a 
harbour, with its pretty border of flowers and 
flotilla of white swans. I remember the walk 
through the little street of the " Blind Donkey," 
below the gilded bridge, to the town hall and the 



Motoring in Flanders 239 

richly-fretted law court, into the square where 
the exquisite Chapel of the Holy Blood was 
tucked away in a corner. It dates from 1150, 
when it was built to enshrine some drops of the 
"Saint Sang" brought, according to the old leg- 
end, from the Holy Land by a count of Flan- 
ders. 

People call Bruges the Venice of the North, 
on account of its many picturesque canals, but 
here are trees everywhere, and the houses are 
of a wholly different style. It is very charm- 
ing, really the most fascinating town in Bel- 
gium, with its mediaeval buildings and its peo- 
ple, who seemed to have a quaintness all their 
own. The old women in caps, sitting in their 
doorways making lace, looked as if they had 
just stepped out of an art gallery. 

Bruges gets its name from the Dutch word 
for the many bridges which cross the canals in 
every direction. These canals connect it with 
Ghent and other inland cities and were once im- 
portant highways of commerce. In those days 
Bruges had a harbour that was large enough to 
hold the whole French fleet, but this has long 
since been filled in by silt from the river. 

The town was so sleepy and quiet, I found it 
hard to realize that it had once been one of the 
wealthiest, busiest cities in Europe, the com- 



240 The Spell of Belgium 

mercial center of the whole continent. The fa- 
mous Belfry of Bruges was originally built of 
wood, nearly a thousand years ago, but near the 
end of the thirteenth century it was replaced by 
the present tower. Like that of Ghent, it stood 
the townsfolk in good stead as a watch-tower 
from which they might see the approach of their 
warlike and envious neighbours. When Bruges 
was not at war with them, she was usually occu- 
pied in repelling attacks from foreign invaders. 
It seems strange that in spite of her battles, 
not only her commerce but her intellectual life 
flourished and grew stronger. At one time mer- 
chants from seventeen countries lived there, 
which must have given the city a very cosmo- 
politan air. Laces, tapestries and woolen cloths 
were bartered for the treasures of the East and 
South and North. Art and letters gave it its 
chief renown, however, for Bruges was the home 
of Memling, and of the van Eycks. This was 
during the Golden Age of the city, in the 
reign of Duke Philip the Good, who was himself 
a patron of art while his wife was keenly inter- 
ested in literature. It was for her that William 
Caxton, living at that time in Bruges, made the 
translation of his first book, which he later 
printed. Glorious old manuscripts were still to 
be seen when we were there. In his book, 



Motoring in Flanders 241 

"Some Old Flemish Towns,' ' George Wharton 
Edwards describes his climb into the top of the 
belfry — an adventure which we did not under- 
take. After treading many flights of stone 
steps he reached at last "a leather-covered door 
and entered a room floored with plates of lead, 
and filled with iron rods, pulleys, and ropes. 
. . . Faint, clear, sweetly coming from afar, one 
hears the music of the bells subdued, soft, like 
harmony from an seolian. But this is from the 
lower chamber. Very different will be the im- 
pression of the sounds if one is among the bells 
when the hour or the quarter is struck. Here, 
among the hanging bells is a sort of chamber, 
where lives a being who seems the very double 
of Caliban, so hairy and wild-looking is he. He 
is the watchman, and is forced to pull upon a 
rope every seven minutes before the bells sound. 
I shall not forget the fright he gave me when 
fancying myself alone in the tower I was exam- 
ining the carillon, and he thrust his huge red, 
hairy face between the two bells under which I 
groped, and stood there staring while I froze 
with horror, while the bells row upon row, above 
and about us, clashed and clanged and boomed, 
swinging as if they would the next minute fall 
upon us and crush us. Thus he stood in this 
turmoil of din and roar and finally when it ended 



242 The Spell of Belgium 

he demanded — in the mousiest squeak of a voice 
imaginable, a small fee for beer money." 
These bell-ringers have appealed to other imagi- 
nations, too. Poe might well have had in mind 
the Belfry in Bruges when he wrote: 

"And the people — ah, the people, 
They that dwell up in the steeple 

All alone, 
And who, tolling, tolling', tolling, 

In that muffled undertone, 
Feel a glory in so rolling 

On the human heart a stone — 
They are neither man nor woman — 
They are neither brute nor human — 

They are Ghouls: 
And their king it is who tolls." 

In Ostend we found a watering place which 
during the last generation has more than 
doubled its population and become wealthy and 
important. This change was due to the efforts 
of the old King, who saw the possibilities of his 
sandy sea-coast if pleasure seekers could be in- 
duced to come in sufficient numbers. His dream 
was to build a road from one end of the shore 
to the other which should be one long, continu- 
ous summer resort. At tremendous cost of 
money and labour strong sea-walls were built 
to protect the shifting dunes, and sections of the 
road as well. Hotels and casinos and villas 



Motoring in Flanders 243 

sprang up all along the shore, among them the 
villa of the old King himself. 

In the time of Charlemagne Ostend was a 
fishing village, but only yesterday it was the 
Continental ideal of what a bathing place should 
be. The Digue, that famous walk by the sea, 
was thronged with an endless variety of men 
and women, of all nationalities and styles of 
raiment. Thousands sat and watched them 
drift by. The heavy bathing machines — a city 
in themselves — went lumbering into the water, 
all so gay in pink and green and blue paint. 
Absurd looking old people were wading and 
children played everywhere in the sand. It was 
indeed a passing show. 

The weather was warm when we were there, 
and we saw the place at its best. Each night 
we dined inside the glassed-in terrace of the 
hotel, with gay people all about us and the 
crowds passing up and down, outside. Then we 
went over to the Casino, a vast amphitheater 
where the orchestra played and throngs sat lis- 
tening till the dancing began at half after ten. 

In sad contrast to these lively scenes was that 
a few months later, just before the Kaiser's 
troops entered the town. A mournful proces- 
sion of refugees moving to the quay, men with 
stolid faces guiding little dog-carts piled high 



244 The Spell of Belgium 

with luggage, anxious women and weary chil- 
dren laden with bundles — all seeking the prom- 
ised safety of England. 

Every year there was held at Ostend a curious 
ceremony which drew excursionists from all cor- 
ners of the country to witness. This was the 
benediction of the sea, which was performed by 
the more intelligent Belgians with all the de- 
corum of a religious rite. The ceremony went 
back apparently at least to the early sixteenth 
century, for it is recorded that after a certain 
inundation of the coast the fishermen joined with 
ship-owners in contributing the sum of 271 
francs to the Church, which was instructed to 
use it for the benefit of the fish in the North 
Sea. This was no doubt the beginning of the 
procession to the shore. 

Kunning inland from Ostend one comes be- 
fore long to Roulers, where there was a train- 
ing convent for missionaries. We found the 
town an active, commercial place, and drove over 
rattling streets to the outskirts and our desti- 
nation, the Convent of the Missionary Sisters of 
St. Augustine. 

The Mother Superior had invited us to visit 
them because six of the little sisters were about 
to start for the Philippines, some to go to a con- 
vent in the Bontoc country among the head- 



Motoring in Flanders 245 

hunters, where L. had followed the trail on 
horseback with the Governor and the Secretary 
of War, a short time before. We wanted to 
show appreciation of their undertaking, for they 
have always spread good reports of the United 
States ' government of the islands. 

The buildings were neither large nor exten- 
sive, for the sisterhood is limited and the order 
comparatively new. There was an American 
flag — rather a queer one, for the little sisters 
had made it themselves — hanging with the Bel- 
gian flag above the door, and inside there were 
decorations of flags and paper flowers and 
streamers, all quite sweet and pathetic. 

Mother Ursula, a nice looking woman, met us 
and conducted us into a room where the forty 
little sisters were huddled together, peering at 
us out of their headdresses, with the liveliest 
curiosity. It was natural enough that they 
should be curious, too, for during their two 
years of instruction they were never allowed 
to go out, and saw very few laymen. At any 
rate, their eyes never left us all the time we were 
with them. They seemed very docile and obedi- 
ent, and were pretty and young, but they were 
rather ignorant, although they were taught a 
little English besides the native dialect of the 
savage places where they were to go, and a little 



246 The Spell of Belgium 

music. They played and sang for us, so badly 
but so touchingly and anxiously — the Old Ken- 
tucky Home, in a way to make one cry, and the 
Star Spangled Banner — both in English. 

Their days were filled with offices of the 
Church, with a little recreation in the small gar- 
den. When an extra holiday hour was allowed 
them for the time we were there, the first thing 
they did was to go in procession to the garden 
and fall upon their knees before the crucified 
Christ. That was evidently their idea of a holi- 
day hour. 

The Flemish roads themselves were always 
interesting, even here where the country was so 
level. We passed an endless succession of won- 
derfully tilled fields in which the peasants were 
working with their primitive implements, and 
little red-roofed stone farmhouses with innu- 
merable tow-headed children playing about 
them. I shall never forget how lovely were the 
apple trees about the farmhouses and in the 
orchards. They all had white blossoms, and 
while we missed the more varied pinks and 
mauves which we see at home, the effect was 
charming. Every now and then we would catch 
a glimpse of a chateau in its park, usually just 
beyond a lagoon and with a moat about it. We 
traversed the streets of the little towns, so quiet 



Motoring in Flanders 247 

in spite of the factories that sometimes girdled 
them, and wondered how the people lived behind 
the quaint fagades of their ancient houses. 
We stopped at the little village of Herzele, on 
the road to Courtrai, to see its ruined tower, 
once the property of Count Egmont, in which 
he sustained a siege for six months. It was 
quite picturesque, built of slabs of rough gray 
stone. Its history reminded us of the great 
Flemish primitives, for its first owner was Jean 
de Koubaix, the friend of Jan van Eyck. 

On another occasion we made a circuit of the 
now historic places in the neighbourhood of the 
Yser Eiver. To be sure, they were historic 
enough then, but so remote from the lines of 
tourist travel that few realized what treasures 
they contained. Now, when nearly everything 
has been swept away, hordes of people are 
waiting eagerly for a chance to see even the 
ruins. 

At that time Dixmude had a population of 
about a thousand, although it was built for 
thirty thousand. Its deserted Grande Place 
was large enough to hold every man, woman and 
child in the place — and if they kept quiet I 
doubt if you would have noticed them ! In the 
church was one of the finest altar screens in Eu- 
rope. Because of repeated bombardments Dix- 



248 The Spell of Belgium 

mude is now completely off the map — church and 
all. I wonder what is left of the ancient wind- 
mill on its grassy hillock overlooking the town; 
it had been there since the Middle Ages. 

Nearer the mouth of the Yser was Nieuport, 
the "new port" made when the harbour of 
Lombaertzyde across the river filled with sand 
during a terrific storm in the twelfth century. 
Part of the way the road along the embankment 
ran just over the sea, and the rest of the time 
behind the dunes. It was a quaint old town 
with some really fine Gothic buildings, hidden 
by its sheltering mounds of sand from the ho- 
tels and villas of the beach, which is called 
Nieuport-Bains to distinguish the resort from 
its moribund neighbour. 

This is far from being Nieuport 's first experi- 
ence of war. It was destroyed in 1383, after 
withstanding nine sieges. A hundred years 
later it was successfully defended against the 
French, the women and even the children fight- 
ing side by side with the men. It was de- 
stroyed again in the seventeen hundreds — three 
times, in fact. "Whether it will rise again, the 
world will wait to see. A brave little town 
among its gray-green sand dunes, with its an- 
cient lighthouse and its empty, echoing square. 

A few miles west along the coast was Furnes, 



, 



Motoring in Flanders 249 

whose history begins in the Dark Ages and fin- 
ishes — in 1914. It was quite of a piece with 
the other dead little towns of the Yser country, 
so far as one could see, but distinguished from 
them all by its strange celebration, the Proces- 
sion of Penance. 

This was held every year on the last Sunday 
in July, and was one of the last remaining 
Christian mysteries. The procession repre- 
sented the life of Jesus. It is supposed to have 
been instituted by that Count of Flanders who 
was also King of Jerusalem, for the purpose of 
carrying about the streets of Furnes a splinter 
from the Cross, which he had brought back from 
the Holy Land. 

For a while other mysteries were added, but 
it finally began to degenerate until by the seven- 
teenth century it had become a sort of burlesque. 
A brotherhood was founded to restore it to its 
primitive form, but a new motive entered into 
it when two soldiers profaned some concen- 
trated wafers and had to do penance in public. 
In this manner the modern penitential proces- 
sion originated. 

The procession formed within the church of 
Sainte Walburge. Outside, the horses of the 
Koman soldiers pranced about while Mary sat 
on an ass waiting for the flight to Egypt. Then 



250 The Spell of Belgium 

slowly forth from the church came the penitents, 
robed and cowled in brown, their faces masked, 
dragging after them the carts bearing the stable 
of Bethlehem, the Holy Sepulcher, the Eesurrec- 
tion, and the Ascension. Following them came 
many rosy-cheeked girls veiled in white. 

As the long lines of the procession unfolded 
themselves before the spectator there was a gen- 
eral impression of a variegated river of gold, 
purple and blue. First came chariots repre- 
senting Old Testament scenes, followed by the 
scourges — War, Pestilence and Famine, a pro- 
phetic trio. Then appeared St. John, the Her- 
mits and the Shepherds, and the Stable, which 
was preceded by an angel and bore Mary and 
Joseph seated inside. 

When, after various scenes from the story of 
the Passion, Jesus passed by, dragging the 
cross, with the soldiers and executioners follow- 
ing behind, a tense silence fell upon the crowd 
of onlookers. Not a sound was heard, save 
here and there the low muttering of the men, 
women and children kneeling on the pavement, 
praying over their rosaries. At every window 
along the route were lighted candles. It was 
no uncommon sight to see some poor old woman, 
carried away by her religious fervour, throw 
coins in front of the cross. This was indeed one 



Motoring in Flanders 251 

of the characteristic incidents of the Furnes 
festival. 

Following this came the penitents, marching 
in close ranks, torches in hand and weighed 
down by the heavy crosses that they dragged 
along. The men's faces were hidden by their 
masks and hoods, the women's by their veils. 
All were barefooted. 

Every position in the procession was sought 
for as eagerly as if it had been a pnblic office. 
Some of the principal parts were hereditary in 
certain families. They say that the festival as 
given the last time was unchanged from its orig- 
inal form, centuries ago, thanks to the care of 
"La Sodalite," the brotherhood having it in 
charge. 

Ypres we saved for the last. Poor Ypres ! 
Eemains of its ancient ramparts still were to 
be seen, and moats with lilies floating on their 
dark waters, and the vast Grande Place, with 
the glorious Cloth Hall occupying one side of 
the huge square, rivaled only by that of Brus- 
sels. Through the crooked streets of the town, 
with their sagging, gabled houses whose upper 
stories often projected over the tiny sidewalks, 
one caught now and then a glimpse of a quiet 
courtyard beyond a vaulted gateway. 

In the quotation which follows, Pierre Loti 



252 The Spell of Belgium 

refers to the "little children" in Ypres. Until 
recently their presence there in what eventually 
became a deserted city was not explained, nor 
indeed specially noticed. But it has been dis- 
covered that when the last train left the interior 
of Belgium, supposedly for France, just in front 
of the advancing Germans, frantic mothers 
pushed their children into the already crowded 
cars, hoping that some one would care for them 
at their destination. This proved to be Ypres, 
where for months the motherless little ones wan- 
dered about the deserted streets, living in cel- 
lars and abandoned houses, the older ones car- 
ing for the younger, all living on what they could 
pick up in the streets. At. last accounts they 
were being brought together by the French Gov- 
ernment and cared for in a convent until the 
war is over, when every effort will be made to 
find their parents. 

Pierre Loti has written of Ypres as he saw 
it not long ago, and it gives us a vivid glimpse 
of the city in war times. i i The squares around 
these tall ruins are filled with soldiers who stand 
still, or who move slowly about in silent little 
groups a trifle solemnly, as though awaiting 
something of which every one knows, but about 
which no one speaks. There are also poorly 
dressed women with haggard faces, and little 



Motoring in Flanders 253 

children ; but the lowly civil population is com- 
pletely swallowed up in the mass of rough uni- 
forms, almost all soiled and earthy, having evi- 
dently witnessed many a long battle. The 
graceful khaki yellow uniform of the English 
and the slender black regimentals of the Bel- 
gians mingle with the sky blue military cloaks of 
our French soldiers, who make up the majority. 
All this taken together results in an almost neu- 
tral shade, and two or three red cloaks of Arab 
chieftains form a sharp and unexpected contrast 
to this universal monotony of a gloomy winter 
evening. The thousands of soldiers glance in- 
stinctively at these ruins, as they take their 
melancholy evening strolls, but usually they re- 
main at a distance, leaving both hall and church 
in their majestic isolation. . . . And now the 
night is almost here, the true night which will 
put an end to every trace of life. The crowd of 
soldiers retires gradually into the streets, al- 
ready dark, but which surely will not be lighted. 
Far away a bugle is calling them to their even- 
ing meal, in the houses or the barracks where 
they sleep insecurely. . . . Now the silhouettes 
of the cathedral and the great belfry are all that 
are pictured against the sky — like the gesture 
of a shattered arm now turned into stone. As 
the night gradually closes in on you under the 



254 The Spell of Belgium 

weight of its clouds, you recall with increasing 
vividness the mournful surroundings in the 
midst of which Ypres is now lost, the vast, 
tenantless plain, now almost black, the muti- 
lated roads, over which none would know how 
to flee, the fields flooded with water or blanketed 
with snow, the lines of trenches, where, alas! 
our soldiers are cold and suffering." 



CHAPTER XIII 

LEGENDS OF ANTWERP 
I 

Antigon; or, The Giant of Antwerp 

MT was a fine night in the year 54 B.C., the 
sky clear, the air calm, when a boat — a 
sort of raft of basket work covered with 
ox hides — was slowly following the ebb of the 
Scheldt. A voice was heard from the boat, a 
woman's voice, soft and gentle. 

"Yes, Atuix, for thee have I passed the 
threshold of my father's dwelling. I have 
quitted the deep forests of Gaul, my native 
country ; for thee have I left all, because of my 
love for thee, Atuix, and thy beautiful harp 
which sleeps silently by thy side." 

Another voice was heard : ' i Oh, Frega, since 
the day that thine eyes looked into mine, my 
harp has forgotten its sounds and my soul no 
longer knows any of the songs whispered by 
Ogmius, whom I worshiped in the forests — the 
god of the bards, he who is always surrounded 

255 



256 The Spell of Belgium 

by men bound by their ears to chains of gold and 
amber which issue from his mouth.' ' 

The boat continued to descend with the tide. 
Suddenly the waves were troubled and foaming 
as if some water monster was rising to their sur- 
face. A breathing, a stifled murmuring, was 
heard, like unto the autumn wind rushing 
through the branches of an old, decayed forest ; 
the bubbling of the waters came nearer, and the 
breathing grew stronger. Then by the pale 
rays of the moon's light, rising above the sil- 
very clouds, Atuix and Frega beheld with ter- 
ror, approaching them and swelling the waves 
in his rapid course, a colossal Giant. 

The waters of the river reached up to his 
broad chest, and formed around him a white 
and sparkling belt of foam. From his formida- 
ble face flowed a thick beard, and his bead was 
covered with hair like that of a horse, rough and 
black. He looked like those isolated peaks 
which are sometimes seen on the borders of the 
ocean, with their frowning crests from which 
the long, trailing grass hangs dripping in the 
waves. The boat suddenly stopped, and 
cracked under the hand of the giant. A terri- 
ble roaring burst from his hollow chest, and 
these words were uttered in a voice of thun- 
der: ! 



Legends of Antwerp 257 

"Ah! ah! my passengers of the night! — you 
think that the eyes of Antigon are closed to 
allow yon to pass in the dark ! Where are my 
three oxen to satisfy my hunger this evening ? ' ' 

Frega clung trembling to Atuix who silently 
drew forth his long blade. 

The giant continued, "If you wish to speak 
to me, then swell out your feeble voices, my 
dwarfs. ' ' 

"Mercy upon us, if thou art the god of this 
river," replied Atuix, "and if thou art not a 
god, then let a poor bard of Ogniius pass un- 
molested. " 

"0 terrible giant, let us pass in the name of 
the great Hesus of Teutates, and of all the 
gods." 

"Oh, thou dost jest, I think," said the giant 
in a ferocious tone. "I laugh at Hesus, seest 
thou? and at all thy gods! — and if thou hast 
seen them, is their stature no higher than yours, 
fine race of weaklings, of whom I could trample 
a whole army under my feet? Ah! thy gods, I 
should long ere this have taken them from their 
heaven for my evening's amusement on the 
lonely shore, or to make a repast of, if they were 
anything more than vain smoke ! ' ' 

"Who, then, art thou, ' ' said Atuix, ' ' thou who 
laughest at the gods?" 



258 The Spell of Belgium 

"Who am I?— Where is Antigon? Ah! thou 
wouldst dissemble with Antigon! — Yes, thou 
forgettest the tribute of oxen thou owest me for 
passing on my river — thou didst think, favoured 
by the darkness, to deceive me, and now thou 
wouldst use thy childish tricks! Ah! Ah!" 
And the giant covered Atuix with his powerful 
hand before he could move a limb. 

Frega, who had remained motionless with ter- 
ror, threw herself on her knees in the boat. 
"Mercy, mercy upon Atuix," she exclaimed. 
"Oh! mercy! what harm can our passing this 
river do to thee, we feeble and without any evil 
intention, he loving me and I loving him? 
Mercy ! Ah, heavens ! is there, then, no pity in 
thy soul ? ' ' 

The giant interrupted with a terrible sneer: 
"Oh! my soul, sayst thou! My soul! Where 
hast thou learnt that I have a soul? Who has 
ever seen a soul? Oh, I tell thee truly that 
there are neither souls nor gods, neither mind, 
nor anything but the body, and hunger ! ' ' 

As he ended the giant pressed the hand of 
Atuix between his two iron fingers, the hand 
fell into the boat with the glaive it grasped. A 
terrible cry was heard accompanied by a fero- 
cious laugh. The giant picked up the bloody 
hand and threw it into the river. Then, just as 



Legends of Antwerp 259 

he was about to seize Frega, who had dropped 
senseless, Atuix freed from the frightful claws 
which pressed him, with the hand which was left 
him, picked up the fallen sword and plunged it 
to the hilt in the giant's arm. A howl of pain 
was repeated by the surrounding echoes. 

The moon was just rising brilliant and pure 
from her bed of clouds, and her rays played on 
the waves, which were scarcely ruffled by the 
light breeze. The boat no longer detained 
floated adrift. A violent shock aroused Frega ! 
She rose painfully on her knees and saw at some 
distance from her a horrible sight. The furious 
giant was crushing the body of Atuix between 
his hands. Frega dragged herself to the edge 
of the boat, her eyes fixed, her face ashy pale, 
she with difficulty stretched out her neck, tried 
to advance farther, as if under some invisible 
attraction ; an instant she gazed, leaned forward, 
her eyes tearless, not a sigh from her bosom; 
then she loosened her hold and rolled over into 
the river. 

A year after this night Caesar had put an end 
to Gaulish liberty. The strength, the courage 
and the heroic resistance of this great people 
whose ancestors had in one of their daring wan- 
derings over Europe encamped on the ruins of 
Eome, was now crushed under the fortune and 



260 The Spell of Belgium 

genius of the conqueror. By the glare of vast 
conflagrations, Belgium, the perpetual focus of 
revolt against oppression, was traversed by- 
three Roman armies, and bridges thrown over 
the Scheldt opened the passage to the country of 
the Menapians. One day a detached company 
of the legion of the vanguard followed the banks 
of the river, guided, it is said, by a mysterious 
being. Twice the sun had sunk to rest without 
their returning. German horsemen sent on 
their track towards the middle of the night were 
stopped at the sight of a strange spectacle. 
Raging flames agitated by the wind were de- 
vouring the foundations of a tower which had 
protected a castle of colossal proportions. The 
ground was lit by the glare of the fire and 
strewn with the dead bodies of the Roman sol- 
diers. In the midst of them, on a mound of the 
dead, was stretched motionless, covered with 
wounds, pierced all over by darts, the enormous 
body of a giant. From one of his huge arms, 
from which the hand was severed, ran on the 
ground a rivulet of black blood. Over his head 
bent a warrior. After some moments of sus- 
pense the eyes of the giant opened. The war- 
rior instantly raised himself, parting his long, 
flowing hair from off his pale and beautiful face. 
Then his eyes suddenly flashed with extraordi- 



Legends of Antwerp 261 

nary brightness — lie approached near to the 
monster's ear, shouting out these words: — 

"Antigon! Antigon! I must call loudly, is 
it not true? — so that thine ear may catch the 
sound? Well, now listen to me, Antigon I Oh ! 
thou art not quite dead, thou canst yet under- 
stand and remember ! A year has elapsed since 
— truly, truly, thy wounds are ghastly and 
bleeding and sweet to look upon ! — Yes, it was on 
a summer night, two lovers floated together on 
the river. Oh ! thy den was not as bright as this 
night— -Two lovers thou knowest! — two lovers 
who only spoke of love, their hearts filled with 
gentle thoughts. Look, look, how well one sees 
one 's shadow here in thy blood. — One of the two 
lovers was a bard. Oh! oh! thy dying eyes 
flash! Thou didst kill him, and the other — 
But where are thy terrible hands, Antigon? 
The other, that feeble woman— Thou hearest 
me ? She lives- to avenge him I ' ' 

A shudder ran through the giant's body, a 
frightful rattle burst from his chest; his teeth 
chattered like the clashing of swords, his eyes 
rolled once more in their bloody orbits, and then 
closed forever. He was dead. Frega knelt on 
the ground and prayed. Upon that spot rose 
Antwerp. Now Antwerp is the Antwerpen of 
the ancient Flemish language, which still pre- 



262 The Spell of Belgium 

serves its original strength and richness in its 
Saxon garb — Antwerpen, in which word the 
chroniclers find Hand and Werpen, to throw, in 
remembrance of the giant Antigon and the 
hands which he threw into the Scheldt. 



II 

Yvon Bruggermans : A Legend of the Antwerp 
Cathedral 

When you approach the old Flemish city, 
built upon the banks of the Scheldt, in one of 
the finest situations of Europe, the first object 
which attracts the attention of the traveler 
is the great spire of the Cathedral. This 
" Heaven-directed' ' spire is one of the loftiest 
and finest in the world. It is a masterpiece of 
pyramidal construction, delighting the vision 
not more by its vast height than by its exquisite 
proportions. It is surmounted by a cross of a 
size corresponding with the edifice itself. The 
Antwerpians are justly proud of their antique 
cathedral, which occupies the first rank among 
the monuments of Europe; if time and space 
permitted I would give you a sketch of its beau- 
ties, but many others before me have described 
its elegant marble statuary, chapels, confes- 




SPIRE OP THE CATHEDRAL, ANTWERP. 



Legends of Antwerp 263 

sionals, altars, choirs, and above all the chef- 
d'oeuvre of the immortal Kubens. Before the 
grand entrance, which so plainly shows the im- 
print of time, observe this blue marble stone, 
inlaid with several small pieces of brass, scat- 
tered promiscuously and seeming to form a mys- 
terious design, which irresistibly excites one's 
curiosity. This monument marks the historical 
and fatal spot where the event occurred which I 
am about to relate. 

The 22d of October, 1520, was a day of fetes 
and rejoicing in all the cities of Flanders, for on 
that day a Fleming, Charles V, was crowned at 
Aix-la-Chapelle. The rich and powerful city of 
Antwerp, whose merchants were opulent as 
princes, displayed all its luxury and splendour 
to honour its new Caesar. The day commenced 
with prayers in all the churches and finished 
with national games of every description upon 
the public squares, and processions of artisans 
preceded by the banners of their several pro- 
fessions. The streets resounded with songs and 
repeated cries of "Vive l'Empereur Charles!" 
and as the night approached the night became 
more dense and noisy, for before the Hotel de 
Ville immense casks were placed, which poured 
forth floods of wine and beer that helped to in- 
crease the enthusiasm of the citizens of the good 



264 The Spell of Belgium 

city of Antwerp. But above all sounded the 
glorious peals of the silver chimes from the old 
cathedral, as if it wished to add its voice in a 
hymn of praise to the young Emperor whose 
reign commenced under such auspicious circum- 
stances. 

There were nevertheless in the city many sad 
hearts, as upon all such occasions there are 
many who cannot participate. At the window 
of one of the largest but poorest lodging houses 
of the Kamerstraet, known by the sign of a 
large Red Lion, stood a young man whose 
desponding and sorrowful air contrasted 
strongly with the joyful bands that passed un- 
der his window. It was evident that he took 
no part in the general rejoicing. The room in 
which he was, although showing that scrupulous 
Flemish neatness, presented an appearance of 
extreme poverty. A miserable pine bedstead, 
curtains of blue linen, four old chairs, and an 
old oak table comprised the furniture of the 
room. The whitewashed walls were devoid of 
ornament, except the image of the Virgin, be- 
fore which burned a small wax candle. Upon 
the bed reclined a woman whose pale, wan face, 
deep-sunk eyes, livid lips, and forehead covered 
with premature wrinkles (she being still young) 
wore the marks of serious physical and mental 



Legends of Antwerp 265 

suffering. The silence which reigned in the 
room was broken by the invalid. 

"Yvon, my son," said she, "come to me; but 
what do I see, tears!" 

"Alas, Mother, how can I keep them back? 
I cannot help you; the fever has so weakened 
me that I am unable to work. Hardly can I lift 
a hammer. I could not bear the heat of the 
forge. I am as weak as a child. ' ' 

"My poor child, the fever has paralyzed your 
strength as well as mine, but the will of God 
be done." 

"Amen," responded the son. "It is hard 
nevertheless to struggle against sickness and 
poverty. If tomorrow we do not satisfy the de- 
mands of the landlord we shall be turned into 
the street. If I were the only one to suffer!" 

"My son, I have seen your father and your 
three brothers die with this merciless fever, and 
with them perished all my happiness. But in 
the midst of my suffering I have always said, 
God has given them to us and taken them from 
us. Blessed be his name. And in this submis- 
sion to his will I have found my only consola- 
tion." 

The young man sighed but made no reply. 
At this moment a tumultuous noise of steps 
arose from the street. It was a procession. 



266 The Spell of Belgium 

The corporations of tanners and joiners were 
passing. 

"Now come the painters with the image of 
St. Luc, and now, oh ! I see the blacksmiths and 
lockmakers carrying the banner of St. Eloi. ' ' 

Poor Yvon looked sorrowfully upon his for- 
mer companions, happy in their strength and 
health, when suddenly he drew back from the 
window and rapidly closed it as if he would shut 
out a fatal vision. 

"What is it?" exclaimed his mother, alarmed 
at his sudden pallor. 

"Marie has just passed with her father and 
Master Verachter, the rich jeweler of Ziereck- 
straet." 

The poor mother tenderly caressed him, with- 
out speaking. She seemed to fear to encourage 
by the least word this sorrow she knew to be 
without hope. 

Yvon sat a long time at the bedside, his face 
hidden in his hands. He recalled his early 
days, joyous and without care, his affectionate 
father and brothers, the winning voice of his 
mother, who instructed them in their early 
duties, and the young Marie, the constant com- 
panion of his youthful plays, whom one day he 
hoped to call his wife. He had nearly served 
his apprenticeship at the forge with his father 



Legends of Antwerp 267 

when this fatal epidemic broke out, to which his 
father and brothers fell victims, and he himself 
and his mother barely survived. But the 
blacksmiths of the city refused to accord him 
the right to continue his father's business, as 
he had not fully worked out the required time. 
That very morning he had heard a neighbour, 
who came to visit his mother, say that the hand 
of Marie, which had been the secret of all his 
efforts and thoughts, had been promised by her 
father to the rich jeweler of Ziereckstraet. He 
had not believed it, but the sight he saw from 
the window confirmed all his fears, and he re- 
mained in deep reverie for a long time. 

He was startled from it by the sounds of a 
violent tempest which had suddenly broken 
upon the city. The merciless blast from the 
North Sea swept over it, spreading destruction 
in its course. Everywhere was heard the fall- 
ing of tiles, the crashing of glass from the 
broken windows, the uprooting of trees, and the 
distant noise from the river, whose swollen 
waters were overflowing its banks. Yvon ap- 
proached the window; darkness reigned every- 
where, the rain fell in torrents, and had extin- 
guished all the torches and lights of the streets. 

During all this long October night the storm 
raged with unabated fury; towards morning it 



268 The Spell of Belgium 

subsided, and when day broke it bad passed, 
leaving all the country inundated. As tbe dis- 
asters of tbe city were insignificant compared 
with those of the country the inhabitants con- 
soled themselves with the reflection that others 
had been more unfortunate than they. It is 
often thus that we console ourselves. Tbose 
who passed in the vicinity of the cathedral saw 
with regret that the great cross which sur- 
mounted the spire had been struck by the light- 
ning, and was so bent that at any instant it 
might fall. This cross had cost so much work 
and care to place it so high ! The news spread 
rapidly, and soon the Grande Place before the 
cathedral was crowded. 

In those times, when the love of art reigned 
supreme, each Flemish city possessed its monu- 
ment. Ghent boasted its gigantic belfry, sur- 
mounted by its Byzantine dragon brought from 
the crusades; Louvain, its Gothic Hotel de 
Ville; Bruges, its old parks and public build- 
ings ; while Antwerp glorified itself justly in its 
cathedral, of which no one dared to contest the 
superiority as a work of art and architecture. 
All the citizens viewed this sight with consterna- 
tion, and asked each other anxiously who would 
be the individual bold enough to attempt such a 
perilous enterprise. The sound of a trumpet 



' — 



Legends of Antwerp 269 

was heard and two heralds on horseback ap- 
peared on the Place. Silence being established, 
one of them read with a slow and loud voice the 
following proclamation : — 

"To the good citizens of Antwerp! — We, the 
Burgomaster and Aldermen of the city, make 
known that we have resolved to give five hun- 
dred golden crowns to the person who will re- 
establish the iron cross in its ancient position 
on the cathedral tower. Five hundred golden 
crowns! Citizens! Whoever desires to ob- 
tain this munificent reward will present himself 
immediately before the Council now assembled 
at the Hotel deVille." 

There was a moment of silence. Each one 
waited to see who would accept, but no one ad- 
vanced. The heralds were about to retire, to 
read elsewhere their proclamation, when the 
crowd suddenly opened and gave passage to a 
young man, who precipitated himself resolutely 
towards the Hotel de Ville. Every eye was 
turned towards him with curiosity. He was of 
extreme beauty, although emaciated, but from 
his eyes shone forth manly resolution and 
courage. The crowd anxiously waited the re- 
sult. A few minutes only had passed when the 
heralds reappeared to read a second proclama- 
tion : — 



270 The Spell of Belgium 

"To the good citizens of Antwerp! — We, the 
Burgomaster and Aldermen, make known that 
Yvon Bmggermans, blacksmith and free citizen, 
has engaged before us this 23d day of October, 
1520, to reestablish our iron cross in its position 
upon the tower of the cathedral tomorrow with 
the aid of God. Consequently, we order all who 
may be present to refrain from distracting the 
attention of the said Yvon Bruggermans, by 
cries, charms, or malicious interventions, but 
on the contrary to give him all the assistance 
which he may need for the accomplishment of 
his work in the name of God and the Holy Vir- 
gin.' ' 

When the time arrived, Yvon, clothed in his 
holiday suit, approached his mother's bed and 
with an animation which she had not seen in 
him for several months, embraced her and asked 
her blessing. 

"Where are you going, my son? You are 
dressed in your holiday suit, and the fetes are 
over. ' ' 

"I go to look for work, dear Mother," an- 
swered he, trying to hide his agitation. ' 1 1 feel 
my strength return, and I can no longer bear the 
misery of our situation. Take courage, Mother, 
I feel the certainty that a better future is before 
us." 



Legends of Antwerp 271 

' ' My child, take care to do nothing beyond thy 
strength. Think that all the riches of the world 
will be nothing to me if I lose thee." 

" And you, my Mother, are you not for me the 
entire world ! I would give my life willingly to 
insure your happiness. But time passes ; bless 
me, dear Mother." 

"May the benediction of God be on thee and 
on thy designs, now and forever. Amen," said 
his mother gravely with her eyes raised to 
heaven, and with her right hand upon the head 
of her kneeling son. 

After a last embrace, he left with a firm and 
resolute step. The most trying proof was past, 
and he felt his courage and hope revive. He 
soon arrived at the Grande Place, where an im- 
mense crowd was assembled. All eyes were 
turned upon him with an expression of pity and 
regret, and voices murmured in his ear words 
of encouragement, sympathy and hope. But 
Yvon, avoiding as much as possible every spe- 
cies of emotion, advanced without answering, 
traversed the crowd, and entered the cathedral. 
He approached the altar, which was decorated 
as if for a fete, and kneeling, recited with fer- 
vour this prayer : 

"Lord of Heaven, I risk my life not to gain a 
miserable sum of money, but to save my mother ; 



272 The Spell of Belgium 

preserve me, then, for the love of her, or if it 
must be that I die, permit me to accomplish the 
work I have undertaken. Father all-powerful, 
I place my soul in thy hands.' ' 

He then rose and proceeded with a firm step 
towards the door of the spiral steps which lead 
to the summit of the tower. As he ascended he 
saw through the loopholes the crowd increasing, 
until all the neighbouring roofs, windows and 
balconies were filled ; everywhere a sea of heads. 
He arrived at last at the end of the steps. 
After having thrown a glance of admiration 
over the country, he turned his gaze toward the 
city. At his feet he distinguished the sign of 
the Eed Lion. He thought of his mother, then 
turned toward the dwelling of Marie. The re- 
membrance of her animated his courage, for on 
his success depended the only chance he had of 
obtaining her hand, and he prepared himself 
to finish the most perilous part of his undertak- 
ing. Before him rose this long, perpendicular 
spire, the summit of which he must reach with- 
out any other means of ascent than the crevices 
between the stones. He attached to a strong 
rope the brazier and tools which he had brought 
to work with, fastened this firmly around his 
waist, and after crossing himself devoutly com- 
menced his perilous ascent. 



Legends of Antwerp 273 

The crowd watched him as he slowly mounted. 
Deep emotion filled every breast. Not a sound 
was heard until he arrived at the summit and 
stood immobile at the foot of the cross. Then 
burst forth a universal cry of admiration. He 
lighted his brazier and actively commenced his 
work, attaching firmly to the cross one end of the 
rope, of which the other encircled his body. The 
multitude saw the great cross rise slowly and 
by degrees under the repeated blows of the 
hammer, and with every stroke his strength ap- 
peared to increase. 

Fifteen minutes had hardly passed when cries 
of enthusiasm saluted the cross completely re- 
stored. His first thought was an aspiration of 
gratitude to heaven, the second was for his 
mother. Then he thought with an emotion of in- 
describable joy of Marie, who would be his, for 
her father certainly could not refuse, when he 
should have the live hundred golden crowns ob- 
tained in such an heroic manner. His happiness 
was at its height, and fearing that his emotion 
might prove fatal, he crossed himself and pre- 
pared to descend, but before doing so he threw a 
last glance over the crowd. He saw them sepa- 
rate to give passage to a wedding cortege, which 
advanced towards the cathedral. Attracted in 
spite of himself, he regarded attentively all the 



274 The Spell of Belgium 

members. He noticed a young girl dressed in 
white as a bride leaning on the arm of an old 
man. He supported himself at the foot of the 
cross and leaned as far as possible to assure 
himself of the reality of his fears — his eyes dis- 
tended, his face livid, and his whole body trem- 
bling with emotion. They glanced upwards to 
see the young workman who had raised the cross 
— Yvon gave a cry of agony, for this bride was 
Marie, and at her side the old jeweler Verachter 
of Ziereckstraet ! The shock was too violent for 
his spirit exhausted by so many struggles. He 
fainted — his hands dropped the support which 
held him, he remained an instant immovable — 
then fell. But the rope which was around him 
remained fixed to the foot of the cross, and he 
was for some minutes suspended in space. The 
crowd who had seen his fall with terror believed 
him saved, but the rope had touched the lighted 
brazier, and soon the body of the unfortunate 
Yvon fell a disfigured and bleeding mass in the 
midst of this brilliant wedding cortege, at the 
feet of the bride. 

The next day a deputation of magistrates of 
the city went to carry to his mother the five hun- 
dred golden crowns, the price of the blood of 
her son. But the chamber was empty. A coffin 
was placed in the middle of the room. Death 



Legends of Antwerp 275 

had spared the poor mother this great affliction. 
Yvon was buried on the spot where he fell, and 
the blue stone, with the brass encrusted in the 
marble, alone indicates the place where lies the 
body of the young blacksmith. 



Ill 

Fbugger the Miser 



One evening in the year 1552, the bells of the 
numerous churches and chapels of the pious 
city of Antwerp were heard calling the faithful 
to divine service, to pray for the repose of the 
souls of their deceased relatives and friends. 
The heavens were obscured by black and angry 
clouds; the wind blew in strong gusts, accom- 
panied by a drizzling rain. A profound silence 
reigned in the obscure streets. As the greater 
part of the population were in the churches, one 
could easily have traversed half the city without 
meeting a living soul, except, perhaps, some 
tardy worshiper, hastening to regain lost time 
and to arrive at the Salut, before the Tantum 
Ergo. 

Notwithstanding the importance of the reli- 
gious solemnities which were being performed 



276 The Spell of Belgium 

in all the houses of God, and the detestable 
weather which drove every one from the streets, 
a man stood motionless before a house in the 
rue des Tailleurs de Pierres, enveloped in a dark 
cloak. He remained motionless, feeling neither 
the wind nor the rain, his eyes fixed on the win- 
dows, trying vainly to distinguish the least ray 
of light. He was young, with effeminate fea- 
tures, and his upper lip was shaded by a light 
moustache ; although he endeavoured to conquer 
the emotions which agitated him, it was not diffi- 
cult to discover by the contraction of his brows, 
that bitter thoughts filled him with despair. The 
house before which he stood was that of a rich 
banker named Friigger. After having stood 
there some time, he lost hope of seeing in this 
dwelling the wished- for object, and with that, 
the courage to remain longer exposed to the in- 
clemency of the storm, so he walked slowly 
away in the direction of the Scheldt. While he 
was in the neighbourhood of the mansion of 
Friigger he stopped from time to time and re- 
garded it still with the same ardent anxiety 
which for more than an hour had characterized 
his contemplation. When at last the distance 
and the obscurity prevented him from seeing it, 
the expression of his countenance became still 
more sorrowful. 



Legends of Antwerp 277 

Letting his head droop upon his chest, he 
sighed, "Katharina, thon lovest me no more! 
Thou hast forgotten me ! Thou hast abandoned 
me ! It is foolish for me to doubt it ! Oh ! now 
it is finished ! I wish no longer to live ! Exist- 
ence becomes a burden to me. ' ' 

At the moment he pronounced these words, ex- 
pressed with such profound despair, he arrived 
at the Canal St. Jean, not far from the river. 
At that time, there stood at this place a water 
mill. Suddenly the noise of the water pouring 
over the wheel attracted his attention, and drew 
him from his somber reverie. He raised his 
head, his eyes sparkled, the expression of his 
features became nearly radiant, his steps were 
firmer, and with a species of cruel joy he di- 
rected himself towards the canal. It could not 
be doubted that the unfortunate young man 
wished to put an end to his sufferings, which 
he believed would terminate only with his life. 
He was already on the banks of the Scheldt. 
One step farther and he would have disappeared 
in the waves, when suddenly the bells of the city 
recommenced their funeral knell. 

These lugubrious sounds had a singular ef- 
fect upon his spirit. He recoiled with fright, 
his thoughts suddenly changed. He was aston- 
ished to think he had contemplated committing 



278 The Spell of Belgium 

a crime to put an end to his troubles. He 
turned away and was soon far from the place 
where he had so nearly put into execution his 
fatal project. A quarter of an hour after, he 
was near the church of St. Andre, calmer, but 
still despairing. 

"Ungrateful," he said to himself, "to com- 
mit a crime that would have brought affliction 
upon the last days, and covered with shame the 
white hairs of the worthy old man, your father, 
who loves you so tenderly, and has only your- 
self in the world. God knows if he would have 
survived your suicide, if sorrow would not have 
brought him to the grave. And why?. For a 
woman that you have loved, that you still love 
more than words can express! How do you 
know she merits your love? And has she ever 
loved you? Foolish to doubt! She still loves 
you — Oh, no ! she has lost all interest in you and 
treats you as if there never existed the least 
sympathetic sentiment between you." 

Saying this, he turned, stopped, and appeared 
to consider anew whether he should return to 
the canal. It was the last attempt of the spirit 
of evil upon his heart enfeebled by suffering. 
Happily his good angel watched over him and 
gave him strength to resist. 

After a moment of hesitation he continued his 



Legends of Antwerp 279 

route, murmuring, "But no, that cannot be; 
she cannot have forgotten me, she must love 
me yet— Katharina, this angel with looks so 
pure, voice so sweet, expression so celestial, 
thoughts so candid, she could never deceive me. 
For her I would give my life. She cannot aban- 
don me thus ; but why does she not let me hear 
from her? She must realize that her silence 
and this uncertainty make me suffer tor- 
ments.' ' 

Thus reasoning, by turns filled with hope and 
despair, he gradually approached the principal 
entrance of the church. Divine service had long 
since commenced. The majestic tones of the or- 
gan rang through the vaulted roof, floating over 
the heads of the kneeling faithful. He entered 
more through curiosity and to distract his grief, 
than through piety, or to pray for the souls of 
the dead, as he felt that in his distracted state 
of mind it would be impossible for him to ele- 
vate his thoughts above the earth, and to invoke 
God with any other intention than that of seeing 
his well beloved. 

The church of St. Andre at this period was a 
remarkable edifice, built in the Gothic style, and 
of an imposing appearance. Its origin was as 
follows: In 1519 the Augustinian monks pos- 
sessed on this spot a magnificent cloister from 



280 The Spell of Belgium 

which the street takes its name. Several of 
these friars, being suspected of heresy, and of 
following the example of their colleague, the fa- 
mous monk of Wiirttemberg, were expelled from 
the city. The cloister was demolished and sold, 
with the exception of the church that the order 
was building, which was finished with the au- 
thorization of Pope Adrian VI, under the invo- 
cation of St. Andre. The spectacle which the 
interior of the church presented at this mo- 
ment was not calculated to inspire our hero 
with less sorrowful thoughts or more consoling 
reflections. Everything there spoke of death, 
eternity and purgatory. The nave was draped 
with black; upon all sides, upon the pillars, on 
the altar, on the candelabra, were funeral em- 
blems, death's heads and cross bones, and skele- 
tons, speaking of punishments and expiations 
of the other life. He felt ill at ease in the midst 
of all these lugubrious decorations. This colos- 
sal edifice, partially lighted by innumerable w T ax 
candles, this compact crowd kneeling on the 
marble and buried in prayer, these gigantic col- 
umns hidden under the funeral drapings, and, 
more than all, the mournful strains of the organ 
and the solemn character of the chants, sad- 
dened him and filled him with an indefinable 
and mysterious fear. 



Legends of Antwerp 281 

All this only served to recall more vividly his 
own situation, and he felt he conld no longer en- 
dure it. As he advanced towards another door 
of the church he noticed in the shade of a pillar 
a female who, while appearing to pray with 
fervour, watched all his movements and en- 
deavoured to attract his attention. Before her 
two persons were kneeling, one a young girl with 
an angelic countenance, whose elegant figure 
was not entirely hidden by the ample folds of 
her black silk cloak. He recognized her w T hose 
silence had made him suffer so cruelly. The 
other, an old man whose features were strongly 
marked with sternness and severity, was the 
father of Katharina. The female who had at 
first attracted his attention was the servant, 
whose eloquent gestures had caused to disap- 
pear, as if by enchantment, the sorrow and dis- 
couragement of the desolate lover, who thought 
no more of leaving the church. Drawing his 
cloak around him, so as to conceal as much as 
possible his features, he placed himself behind 
the persons upon whom all his thoughts were 
concentrated, and decided to wait until the close 
of the services, hoping he should succeed in 
learning something of the inexplicable conduct 
of the daughter of the banker. The service was 
finished, the last modulations of the organ had 



282 The Spell of Belgium 

died away, when the old man and his daughter 
prepared to leave the chnrch. 

The young man followed as near as possible, 
without being noticed. Near the door he felt 
some one press his arm and at the same instant 
put in his hand a letter, which he took without 
pronouncing a word. He continued to follow 
the three persons instinctively. It was only 
after seeing them enter their dwelling and close 
the door that he thought of returning home. 



To those acquainted, however slightly, with 
the history of Antwerp it will be superfluous to 
recall the immense prosperity of the city at the 
time of our little drama. To give an idea of its 
ancient wealth and magnificence, it will suffice 
to say that five hundred vessels ascended and 
descended the Scheldt daily. The river near 
the city was literally covered with ships at an- 
chor, waiting their turn to discharge ; they often 
extended as far as the village of Hoboken, three 
miles from the city, which gave rise to the Flem- 
ish saying "Op de Hobooksche hei liggen" (To 
remain in the fields of Hoboken). This saying 
is used to designate persons who are obliged to 
wait a long time for the accomplishment of their 
desires. Nearly every nation had its repre- 



Legends of Antwerp 283 

sentatives in the fine and celebrated city of Ant- 
werp, and one of the writers of the time said 
that the Antwerpians could study the customs, 
language and costumes of all the nations of the 
globe without leaving their city. We will not 
attempt to explain the causes of this gigantic 
prosperity, which caused Antwerp to be the rival 
of Genoa and Venice. Its admirable situation, 
which still contributes to its prosperity, was one 
of the principal reasons. The fairs, like those 
of Leipsic and Frankfort, were endowed with 
many valuable privileges ; one of these guaran- 
teed to its visitors a species of inviolability. 
They could not be molested for debt during the 
continuance of the fair and while making their 
return trip to their homes. It is not astonish- 
ing that with the freedom and facility which 
foreign merchants enjoyed they preferred Ant- 
werp to other cities, and that it attained such a 
degree of splendour. 

Among the foreign bankers the most noted 
was a German named Wolfgang Friigger. He 
was descended from the famous Friiggers of 
Augsburg, who had representatives in France, 
Spain, Italy and Antwerp. They were the rich- 
est bankers of Europe, the Kothschilds of the 
epoch. He had inherited from his father a sum 
of six million crowns, a fabulous amount at that 



284 The Spell of Belgium 

time. His house had the reputation of contain- 
ing more treasures than the palace of a king. 
He was called by every one "Friigger the 
Rich. ' ' He lived in a very simple, miserly man- 
ner. 

Friigger had been for a long time connected 
with another German banker, immensely rich, 
named Hochstetter, whose mode of living dif- 
fered essentially from that of the father of 
Katharina. He lived in a princely manner in 
a palace which he had built in the street that still 
bears his name. It appears that notwithstand- 
ing the difference in their manner of living, 
they agreed marvelously, and visited each other 
frequently. Their names were inseparable 
upon the Bourse, as all believed that there ex- 
isted between the two houses a secret partner- 
ship, and why should they not have believed so ? 
For when the name of one alone was cited in a 
transaction it was soon known that the other 
participated in it. When the loan of £152,000 
sterling was made to Henry VIII, King of Eng- 
land, ostensibly by Friigger alone, it was soon 
known that it was an operation of the two 
houses. Later, when Hochstetter concluded his 
loan of 3,000,000 crowns of gold, to the King of 
Portugal, Friigger, which was a mystery for no 
one, took part for at least one-half. 



Legends of Antwerp 285 

Thus it had been for many years, when sud- 
denly without any apparent cause the union of 
the rich Germans was interrupted in the most 
complete manner. They ceased to visit and be- 
came as strangers. Although no one knew the 
reason of this sudden change they did not doubt 
that Friigger was the cause, as it was known 
that Hochstetter had been to visit him and had 
not been received. This happened a few days 
only before the ceremonies at the church for the 
repose of the dead. Friigger had not for several 
days appeared at the Bourse, which had filled all 
the merchants with astonishment. 

in 

The same evening of the ceremonies two per- 
sons conversed together in one of the salons of 
the superb mansion of Hochstetter. One of 
them was a man of about sixty years of age, of 
a venerable aspect, whose features expressed 
mildness and benevolence. This was Hoch- 
stetter. Not far from him was seated in a 
heavy oaken chair the young man whom we have 
followed from the river to the church; he ap- 
peared a prey to great despair and tried vainly 
to repress his tears. The father was reading 
the letter which the servant of Katharina had 
given to the lover of her mistress, and from time 



286 The Spell of Belgium 

to time lie stopped to bestow upon his son a re- 
gard full of tenderness, but the contents of the 
letter were not of a nature to calm his sorrows, 
or to give him courage. It ran as follows : 

"It is eight long days that I have not seen 
you, nor your worthy father, and I have not even 
been able to send you any word. Perhaps you 
have already accused me of forgetfulness and 
ingratitude. If it is thus, ask God to pardon 
your unjust suspicions, for never were re- 
proaches less merited. If you knew my situa- 
tion you would feel only pity for my unhappy 
fate, and you would not impute sentiments to 
me which are far from my heart. Since the day 
your father, my esteemed guardian, came to de- 
mand my hand, my father has changed so much 
that I can hardly recognize him. Not contented 
with forbidding me all communication with you, 
he will not even allow me to talk with any one ; 
even my own maid is a prisoner like myself. 
Not a word from you or your father have I had. 
I have only been told you asked my hand in 
marriage. When I asked my father for an ex- 
planation he answered me that it was not yet 
time but that he would give me one later. I can- 
not comprehend it — my father who has ap- 
peared to love me so tenderly and has always 



Legends of Antwerp 287 

gratified all my wishes — to treat me suddenly 
with so much severity, so much cruelty. What 
can I say ? He knows that I love you, and what 
adds to my grief is not to be able to tell you 
my troubles, and not to see you. He is not 
ignorant that I suffer and weep almost con- 
tinually. I fear you will ascribe my silence to 
other sentiments. He has kept me from your 
father and all my friends who could speak to me 
of you. He has also changed so much that it as- 
tonishes me ; he is always agitated, filled with a 
continual fear w x hich it is impossible for me to 
understand; he trembles and turns pale at the 
slightest noise, speaks of thieves and robbers 
as if the city contained them by thousands ; in 
the evening he dares not retire until he has as- 
sured himself that the doors are well fastened. 
His long, strange absences, of which I have 
formerly spoken to you, become more and more 
frequent, and they often last for hours. No one 
sees him go out, but he is nowhere to be found. 
Then suddenly he appears without any one be- 
ing able to say how he has entered. He has for- 
bidden me to go to the morning mass as I have 
always done, and it was with great reluctance 
that he accompanied me to the church of St. 
Andre to pray for the repose of the soul of my 
deceased mother, whose loss I have never felt 



288 The Spell of Belgium 

more deeply than now. As I have the hope of 
seeing yon there, I know not why, I have written 
these lines, and confide them to Clara and pray 
that she may find means of giving them to you. ' ' 

This letter did not appear to astonish Hoch- 
stetter much, but his discontent was none the 
less visible. 

"Decidedly he is losing his senses," mur- 
mured he, throwing it upon the table. Then, 
turning towards his son, "Carl," said he, tak- 
ing his hand, ' ' calm yourself, you see that all is 
not lost as you feared, and you were wrong to 
doubt Katharina. The poor child loves you 
more than ever." 

"But her father," sighed Carl, "her father. 
I avow that his conduct ..." 

"But I think I understand it. I have been 
connected with him twenty years and I think I 
know him well enough to flatter myself that he 
had much friendship for us, and that it must 
cost him something to sacrifice it for an idea; 
but still he shows himself uncivil, refuses to 
have any more transactions with me, and when 
I visited him to demand an explanation he 
would not receive me. He forbids his daughter, 
my ward, all communication with us, and for 
what? — because I have asked of him her hand 



Legends of Antwerp 289 

in marriage for my only son, whose fortune is 
larger than that of any other in the city! He 
has seen this attachment in the games of your 
infancy and has always approved of it. If I re- 
gret one thing it is not the interruption of our 
commercial relations, or the loss of his friend- 
ship, but the sudden disappointment of the 
hopes which this union had made me form for 
you. Alas ! do not be discouraged, my son ; you 
have not so much to complain of, it appears to 
me. The young girl loves you, you cannot 
doubt it, and in spite of the severity of her 
father she finds means to communicate with you, 
and then she says that she does not compre- 
hend her father 's strange conduct, and gives us 
to understand that he must labour under some 
aberration of mind. I am sure that when he 
is reestablished in health we shall find him 
the same old friend and tender father, who will 
be pleased to have you for a son-in-law. For 
where will he find one more suitable in every re- 
spect? Besides, you will be immensely rich." 

"If Friigger will not accord me the hand of 
Katharina of what use will all the riches of the 
earth be to me V ' 

' ' Lover 's words ! Eiches are always useful ; 
you will learn that later. He will consent ; but 
if he persists in his absurd obstinacy will you 



290 The Spell of Belgium 

consent to marry her without any dowry, or 
even the fortune which belongs to her from her 
mother !" 

"Instantly, even if she were the daughter of 
the most humble artisan. ' ' 

"I will make another attempt. I know him 
well enough to prophesy that my offers will be 
accepted. Console yourself; all will be well." 
After this they separated, each to retire to his 
apartment. 

IV 

At the rue des Tailleurs de Pierres, in one of 
the rooms of the house of Friigger, took place 
almost at the same moment, a scene which, al- 
though of another character, still related to 
the same subject as the one which had just oc- 
curred at the house of Hochstetter. 

"My child/ ' said Friigger to his daughter, 
"you know that since the death of your mother 
I have loved no one but yourself in this world, 
and have endeavoured to augment my fortune 
only in order to make you the richest heiress of 
all the provinces reunited under the scepter of 
the Emperor Charles V. You, for whom I have 
done so much, for whom I continue to amass 
wealth, in order to elevate you so high that mis- 
fortune can never reach you, and whom all the 



Legends of Antwerp 291 

world shall envy; you can do nothing for me? 
Why refuse me, who have never refused you the 
accomplishment of the slightest desire? Why 
refuse me the obedience that every child owes to 
its parents, even when they have not done for it 
what I have done for you?" 

' 'Father," responded Katharina in a firm 
tone, "I have never refused to obey you, and 
have always endeavoured to prove by my obedi- 
ence that I have not ceased to love and respect 
you, which is my wish and duty. ' ' 

"It is probably with this intention," said the 
old man bitterly, "that notwithstanding my ex- 
press will you still persist in loving the son of 
Hochstetter. ' ' 

"Oh, Father," interrupted the young girl, 
blushing deeply. 

"Try not to deny it," answered he with an- 
ger. "You love him, you love him madly, in 
spite of me or my strict orders, and the obedi- 
ence which you declare you owe me." 

Katharina was too much agitated to answer 
immediately. She hesitated, and then said with 
a trembling voice, which grew firmer as she pro- 
ceeded : 

1 1 1 love him more than I can say, more than I 
know myself, which renders me incapable of 
obeying you, when you require that I shall for- 



292 The Spell of Belgium 

get him. Can you make me commit a crime! 
Is it not you yourself who have taught me from 
my most tender youth to esteem and love Hoch- 
stetter as your friend, and the friend of my de- 
ceased mother, and to consider him as my second 
father ? Is it my fault if in obeying you I have 
ended by loving his son, the friend of my in- 
fancy, the companion of my youthful days, the 
only child of r^y guardian? No, the fault is 
yours at first, yours alone, and in commanding 
me to change my sentiments you demand an im- 
possibility and render me the most unhappy of 
all beings ! ' p 

"It is true," murmured Friigger, striking his 
forehead. "It is my fault, it is my fault. I 
have had too much confidence. I have delivered 
myself to them bound hand and foot, like an old 
fool that I was. But if with an effort you can 
satisfy me, render me happy ?" questioned he, 
raising his voice. 

"Bender you happy, Father? I do not un- 
derstand you. Why is your interest so great?" 

"What interest, child,' ' cried he, with a 
frightful expression upon his features, "what 
interest ! — You know you are sure of my affec- 
tion for you, but I believe, nevertheless, that 
sooner than let you persevere in this love I pre- 
fer to see you dead. Oh, yes, dead ! Ask of me 



Legends of Antwerp 293 

all you wish, demand my blood, my life, but I 
plead with you, renounce this detested Carl, 
whom I hate as my enemy/ ' continued he, seiz- 
ing her arm and pressing it with savage energy. 
"Benounce him, I pray you; say that you will 
love him no more, that you will think of him only 
as an enemy — as the enemy of your father. ' ' 

Katharina burst into tears. ' ' I wish I could 
promise what you exact of me, but I feel it im- 
possible to keep a promise to forget him." 

"Oh! say to me that you will never abandon 
me, never leave me alone in my solitary dwell- 
ing,' ' pursued the merciless old man, without 
appearing to have heard the words of his daugh- 
ter ; " say that you will not marry while I live. 
You wish not my death, do you % ' 9 

"Your death!" 

"Yes, my death! Listen! I lost your 
mother while you were an infant. It is needless 
to say what a terrible blow her loss was to me, 
but I have consoled myself with the idea that 
you remained to me, and with the hope of finding 
in you all her virtues. This hope has not been 
deceived. I see in you today my regretted 
Anne, with her beauty, all her precious qualities, 
and her incessant cares for my happiness. If in 
losing you I lose a second time all that is dear 
to me I shall not survive it. ' ' 



294 The Spell of Belgium 

' ' Father, I pray you. ' ' 

' ' Oh, I know what you wish to say, that your 
husband would be my friend, would prove a 
most tender and respectful son; perhaps even 
through pity he would consent to leave you with 
me ; but the idea alone of knowing that when he 
wished he could take you from me would em- 
bitter my life. And now," said he, perceiving 
with joy that his words had made a profound 
impression upon the young girl, "Katharina, I 
appeal to your heart. Will you abandon the 
poor old man who lives only by you and for 
you? Can you reduce to despair and fill with 
bitterness the few days which yet remain to me? 
Would you kill me slowly and force me to curse 
in my last moments, my only daughter, whose 
abandonment will have caused my death V 9 

1 i Never, oh, never ! ' ' she cried, throwing her- 
self in tears upon his breast. " Pardon me, my 
poor father." 

' ' Thus you will remain ? Always ! You will 
never think of marrying while I live 1 9 ' 

4 * Never." 

1 ' Oh, I knew it, ' ' cried he, embracing her. ' ' I 
knew I should recover my daughter ! The con- 
viction that you have assured the happiness of 
your father will soften the bitterness of your 
regrets. ' ' 



Legends of Antwerp 295 

She fell upon her knees sobbing, a prey to 
an indescribable emotion. He placed his hand 
npon her head, and raising his eyes to heaven 
said with an inspired air : 

"God, who has promised long and prosperous 
days in this life, and in the other eternal felicity, 
to children who love and obey their parents, 
may he bless thee as I bless thee, and render 
thee tenfold the joy which I feel at this moment, 
at thy filial piety. ' ' 

Raising the weeping Katharina he rang a bell 
placed npon a table near him. Her servant ap- 
peared. Katharina embraced him anew, and 
left the room, supported by the maid. 



Frugger waited until he heard her enter her 
apartment. Then he closed the door. A smile 
of satisfaction played around the corners of his 
mouth, and a look of triumph lightened his fea- 
tures. He remained at first motionless and si- 
lent. Little by little the air of contentment dis- 
appeared and gave place to one of anxiety. His 
face contracted ; he rose and commenced to walk 
back and forth in the room. 

"If she should change her ideas, retract the 
promise that I have extorted from her; if she 



296 The Spell of Belgium 

should force me to consent to her marriage, or 
worse still, marry without it, what could I do 
then? — Oppose her design? — Impossible! — 
Here," said he, taking from an escritoire a 
parchment covered with several seals, "here is 
this abhorred writing signed by the hand of my 
wife, which exacts that when my daughter at- 
tains the age of twenty-five years — or sooner, if 
she wishes to marry — that I shall give her half 
of my fortune, and to complete the misfortune, 
confides to Hochstetter the guardianship of my 
child ! Ah ! my wife knew well what she did in 
making this will! She knew me, and w r as not 
ignorant that this gold, these bonds, these treas- 
ures, were my life, and that I would give my 
soul to preserve them, and would willingly sac- 
rifice my eternal salvation rather than be sepa- 
rated from them. Part with them? Maledic- 
tion ! Another to possess and have in his power 
these riches, fruits of so many days of anxiety 
and nights filled with anguish — of so many un- 
fortunate speculations! — Another to manage 
this wealth so laboriously amassed — to have 
the right to dispose of my money, to squander 
it perhaps, for I know these Hochstetters ; they 
live like princes and entertain all the nobles of 
the land. — Grand Dieu! Not to be able to re- 
joice daily over the sight of these riches; to 



Legends of Antwerp 297 

part with half. Never ! that shall never be ! I ! 
— Yes! I will sooner kill the unfortunate 
child.' » 

In exclaiming thus, the expression of his face 
was so terrible that it was almost fiendish. 
The violence of his emotions was so powerful 
that he was himself startled by their intensity. 
After a few moments of reflection he became 
more calm. 

"I am wrong to agitate myself thus ; she will 
not marry ; she has promised it ; and then have 
I not the testament in my own hands? But 
Hochstetter knows it ; he possesses proofs of its 
existence. I fear he has a copy of it. Oh ! he 
knows very well what he has done ! My daugh- 
ter, the wife of his son — le miserable! To 
abuse thus my friendship, my confidence; that 
calls for revenge. But no, I have merited it ; it 
is my fault. She loves the son and respects the 
father more than she does me. I could cry with 
rage." 

Pronouncing these words with ferocity he fell 
back upon his seat, somber and discouraged, 
and remained plunged in thought. 

VI 

A half hour later, when he judged that all 
were wrapped in slumber he rose, took from a 



298 The Spell of Belgium 

secret compartment of his escritoire a little key, 
lighted a dark lantern, and left the room. After 
having assured himself that there was no fear of 
meeting any one, he advanced softly and de- 
scended the staircase. Arriving in the spacious 
corridor, he first went to the street door to as- 
sure himself that it was solidly fastened, re- 
turned, opened another door at the end of the 
corridor, and descended the stairs which led into 
the cellar. The dwelling of the miser was very 
large; the cellars extended under the street, 
forming a species of labyrinth. His father had 
constructed them upon a vast scale in order that 
they might serve as storehouses in times of trou- 
ble. Friigger went through them with a sure 
step which proved sufficiently that all the nooks 
and corners were familiar to him. After hav- 
ing traversed several of these subterranean 
chambers, he stopped suddenly before one of the 
last, and listened attentively, to assure himself 
that the same silence continued to reign, and 
that no one would come to interrupt him. As 
all remained tranquil he advanced towards one 
of the angles of the vault. This angle differed 
in no respect from the others ; the walls were as 
damp and as dark, but hardly had Friigger in- 
troduced the little key into an imperceptible 
opening, which no one but himself could dis- 



Legends of Antwerp 299 

tinguish, when a solid iron door turned npon 
its hinges, opened, and permitted him to pass 
into another vault of which no one would have 
suspected the existence. After having listened 
anxiously and persuaded himself that no one 
watched him, he entered ; the massive door shut 
behind him with a loud clang that sounded 
through the subterranean apartments. A sec- 
ond after the silence of death reigned through- 
out the dwelling. 

The next day Hochstetter presented himself 
at the house. He had come for the last time to 
ask the hand of Katharina for his son. Know- 
ing his friend for so many years he had dis- 
covered, notwithstanding Friigger's efforts to 
hide it, the inexorable passion which tyrannized 
over him, but he would never have believed that 
the miser would be dominated by this passion 
to such an extent as to cause the unhappiness 
of these two children. Seeing that this demon 
of avarice gained upon him every day he had 
come to propose the union of Katharina and his 
son, upon such terms as would be exceedingly 
gratifying to the old man. He would take his 
daughter without obliging him to part with the 
slightest portion of his colossal fortune, not 
even the heritage left her by her mother. He 
felt almost certain that his old friend would 



300 The Spell of Belgium 

hasten to consent as soon as he made known his 
intentions. 

But Friigger could not be found. The serv- 
ants, who for a long time had become accus- 
tomed to the prolonged absences of their mas- 
ter, at first were not anxious. They begged 
Hochstetter to return later in the day, which he 
did, but still no news of Friigger. As his dis- 
appearances had never lasted so long, when 
the whole day had passed, anxiety was at its 
height. On returning the third time, he in- 
sisted upon seeing Katharina. Their anxiety 
overcame their respect for the severe orders of 
their master, and they conducted him to her 
presence. The young girl was happy to see her 
old friend ; grief had rendered her incapable of 
taking the necessary measures of searching for 
her father, which Hochstetter willingly under- 
took. He performed this task conscientiously, 
and did all that was possible to be done, sparing 
neither trouble nor expense to discover the re- 
treat of his friend. He sent couriers to Ger- 
many, Holland, Italy, and to all the great com- 
mercial cities with which Friigger had had bus- 
iness connections — but in vain. No one had 
seen the rich German. No one could give any 
information of him. 

Another circumstance astonished Hochstetter. 



Legends of Antwerp 301 

He knew that the fortune of Friigger was one 
of the most colossal of this period, and even if 
he had not known it, his books, kept with the 
most scrupulous neatness and exactitude, were 
there to prove that, far from diminishing, it 
had increased considerably ; but then, in making 
the inventory of what he really possessed, they 
found only a quarter of what was expected. 
This circumstance caused much remark from 
the Antwerp merchants and the members of his 
family who came to Antwerp to convince them- 
selves of the truth of such an incredible event. 
It was rumoured at the Bourse that Friigger the 
Kich had fled, or committed suicide perhaps, on 
account of the enormous losses that he had sus- 
tained, and that his fortune had diminished in 
an alarming manner. But Hochstetter knew 
too well the fortune and the speculations of 
Friigger to put any faith in these rumours. 
The only certainty was that he had disappeared 
and with him the greatest part of his riches, 
and that Katharina had become an orphan suf- 
ficiently rich but much below what she could 
have one day hoped for. 

A little more than a year after the disappear- 
ance of Friigger the two lovers were married 
in the church of St. Andre. Long, very long, 
the miser 's fate remained an inexplicable mys- 



302 The Spell of Belgium 

tery, and would have perhaps so remained for- 
ever, if, as frequently happens, accident had 
not explained the enigma. After the marriage 
Carl and Katharina went to live in the sump- 
tuous mansion of her husband, and the house 
of Friigger was more or less abandoned. Hoch- 
stetter had been dead many years when their 
eldest son was about to be married, and as the 
house of Friigger formed a part of his dowry 
they resolved to repair and alter it, and make it 
worthy of receiving the young couple. One day 
while the workmen were excavating in the gar- 
den they came to anounce to Carl that they had 
found a few feet under the earth a vault of 
which no one knew the existence. It contained 
bars of gold and silver, coins of all countries, 
precious stones, and especially diamonds of in- 
calculable value. On the floor lay a skeleton. 
From the pieces of clothing that still covered it 
it was recognized as that of "Friigger the 
Miser.' ■ In searching further they discovered 
a heavy iron door, communicating with the 
other cellars, and so artistically concealed in 
the walls that it was impossible to suspect its 
existence. 

To open it, they were obliged to demolish it 
completely. A very small key was found on the 
other side of the door, still remaining in the 



Legends of Antwerp 303 

lock. There was the explanation of his frequent 
absences and of the final disappearance of the 
old man. In his eagerness to enjoy the sight 
of his treasures, he had forgotten to take out 
the key upon entering his sanctuary; the door 
had closed upon him and he had remained alone 
with his gold, and starved in the midst of riches 
vast enough to have bought a realm. 



IV 

The Blacksmith of Antwerp 

They were seated in a rich and shady 
arbour, over which creeping vines wandered 
in every variety of curve, suspending large 
clusters of precious fruits, while the atmos- 
phere was laden with the mellow fragrance 
of the gorgeous plants which grew in wild, 
untutored luxuriance about the shady re- 
treat. The fading light of day yet lingered, 
and gave a rosy hue to the face of the 
maid who sat therein, as she regarded with 
mournful tenderness the youth seated at her 
side. 

"Nay, Que^m," said she, "say not so, it is 
duty which prompts me to say it must not be. 



304 The Spell of Belgium 

Had I not affection for my father, do you believe 
I would act contrary to my own desires? would 
I cause you unhappiness ? " 

"Is this your love?" said the other, with a 
tone of fretfulness. "Methinks it cannot be a 
very ardent flame when it is so easily extin- 
guished by the perverse and obstinate tyranny 
of a—" 

"Stay your words,' ' interrupted the girl, as 
she laid her delicate hand tenderly on his lips. 
"You will respect the father if you love the 
child.' ' The noble mind of the youth was 
struck with the reproof, and although opposed 
to his desires her filial reply expressed such 
purity and excellence, that he instantly made 
reparation. 

"Forgive me, dearest,' ' he entreated. "I 
spoke hastily and unworthily. But your words 
have crazed my soul, which builds its happiness 
on the possession of you. If it may not be 
that I shall be your husband, oh! promise me 
that no other shall. ' ' 

" I would fain do so," sighed the afflicted 
girl, "but if my father commands, can I dis- 
obey? I have had no mother's care since child- 
hood, but I have scarce felt the loss. My father 
has thrown off the coldness of a man and been 
a very woman in his affection for me. Shall 



Legends of Antwerp 305 

I repay his kindness with ingratitude? Alas! 
Quentin, if lie tells me to love another, I can- 
not do so; but if he bids me wed, Quentin, you 
would not censure me?" The expiring rays 
of the setting sun fell on her features as she 
earnestly gazed upon her lover. 

"Ah!" cried the youth, with a sudden start, 
as he struck his hand upon his brow, "why that 
blush, that agitation! Deceive me not, Elzia, 
you are not supposing a case. This has al- 
ready happened; I see it all; your father has 
selected a bridegroom for you." 

The maid sank her head upon his bosom, 
and through her struggling tears she sobbed, 
1 ' Quentin, thou hast said it. ' ' 

Desperate was the conflict in the bosom of 
the youth as he sat like one in a trance, his 
eyes fixed on hers, which, like the sun break- 
ing through clouds of the passing storm, 
gleamed from under their dripping lashes. 
Soon he saw the rainbow of hope. 

"Who is my rival!" he asked with a voice 
scarcely audible. 

"Van Deg," she answered sorrowfully. 

"Do you love him, Elzia?" 

' ' How can you ask ? ' ' 

"Will you marry him?" 

"My father's happiness is dearer to me than 



306 The Spell of Belgium 

my own. Think you I would wantonly sacri- 
fice it!" 

"But why vanDeg?" 

"Because he excels in my father's art." 

"Alas!" cried the despairing lover, "why 
am I not a painter I ' ' 

The bed of Quentin was one of thorns that 
night, as he threw himself upon it and yielded 
to his agony of thought. How vainly, yet how 
ardently had he loved, how industriously had he 
laboured to procure her affection. Just when 
he had achieved the victory over her confiding 
heart, all that he struggled for was lost — no, 
not lost — he could bear the thoughts of her 
death, he could weep over her grave, he could 
care for the flowers above it, but to think that 
the prize must be torn from him to be given 
to another's embrace, there was madness in it. 
And then van Deg, that rough, haughty, dis- 
tant man! how unworthy he to possess a jewel 
of such value, how unfit to care for such a tender 
plant, how unsuitable his unsocial spirit for the 
angel who needed some congenial soul to insure 
her happiness. 

"Will she not droop and die in that cold 
atmosphere with him?" he asked himself, as 
at length exhausted nature yielded to weari- 
ness and he fell asleep. 



Legends of Antwerp 307 

The mind, however, yielded not to the fatigue 
of the body ; on the contrary it seemed to have 
more abundant vitality. Quentin dreamed he 
was in the street. The bells rang, the people 
shouted, and gay equipages passed by. It was 
a day of public rejoicing, for Elzia, the daughter 
of Algini, was to wed van Deg, the nation's 
favourite, the celebrated painter. People re- 
counted the scenes he had delineated and 
lauded the artist to the skies. Quentin trem- 
bled and the cold perspiration gathered on his 
forehead as the nuptial cavalcade approached. 
They halted at the chapel and the groom con- 
ducted the bride all pale and trembling up the 
aisle to the altar. As the father was about giv- 
ing his daughter away, Quentin rushed up and 
seized her; she shrieked and fell dead in his 
embrace. Her relatives and the priest all 
gazed in horror ! Quentin raised his eyes, saw 
the misery in their countenances, and as his 
face fell upon the bosom of his lovely burden 
he expired — and at that moment awoke. 

Still the people were before his eyes, fresh 
in his recollection as if he had beheld the awful 
scenes by the noonday sun. Impelled by an un- 
accountable impulse he arose and lighted his 
lamp, and taking a coal from the extinguished 
embers in his chimney, he commenced a pic- 



308 The Spell of Belgium 

ture of this scene upon the wall. He drew each 
face, recoiling in surprise at the perfect resem- 
blance to the individuals. As he finished the 
outline he beheld in it a faithful transfer of his 
dream, wanting nothing but colour. A thou- 
sand thoughts darted through his brain. He 
flung himself on his bed, and when he next 
awoke the rays of the sun had gilded his apart- 
ment. His first object was to seek the mural 
picture, and he trembled lest it had all been a 
dream, but there it stood as if executed by a 
magic power. 

"If this is the result of an effort with char- 
coal,' ? cried he, striking his breast in a delirium 
of joy, "what might I not effect with other 
means! What might be my reward ?" 

As daylight sought its slumbers' in the bosom 
of night the lovers met again. "I'm doing 
wrong, " murmured Eizia, "in meeting you, 
since I am an affianced bride. This night must 
be our last. It is a sad thing to part with those 
we love; yet I act as virtue dictates, and we 
must meet no more, as — " 

"Say not that we shall meet no more as 
lovers; say that we shall meet no more; for, 
Elzia, could we meet but to love, to upbraid 
fate which so cruelly divides us?" 

"I must away," said the girl; "if Quentin's 



Legends of Antwerp 309 

affection is pure he will condemn me for linger- 
ing. J ' 

"Farewell, then, sweetest. If I lose thee I 
will wander to some distant clime and strive 
to bury my regrets in new cares and new com- 
panions.' ' 

He imprinted a kiss upon her willing lips. 
He watched her retiring form as it appeared and 
disappeared amid the foliage at intervals until 
it was finally lost to his anxious view ; then he 
turned slowly and sadly away. 

Never did father love his daughter with more 
fondness than Algini his child Elzia. Her good 
was his great aim. He was an enthusiast in 
the art of the pencil, and deemed that one of that 
profession would be most worthy of his child. 
The two passions of his soul mingled in such 
a manner that they became one. He considered 
the canvas a lasting monument to genius, and 
that he would best secure his daughter's hap- 
piness by uniting her to one who would be 
alive to all posterity in his works. Algini had 
therefore selected van Deg, as he was the boast 
of his country, and the figures of his creation 
wanted nothing but motion to make them the 
exact counterpart of the living originals. Be- 
sides, he was wealthy and would add to the 
riches of the family. Finally, his daughter 



310 The Spell of Belgium 

was not old enough now to judge for herself, 
and though she had confessed that she was 
prejudiced against her proposed husband, a 
few years of connubial intercourse would over- 
come that, and she would ultimately be benefited. 
Just as the father was at this point of re- 
flection a letter carrier entered the apartment 
and handed him a letter, saying he would wait 
without for an answer, that he had been bound 
by oath not to disclose who had commissioned 
him to deliver this communication. Algini was 
astonished at these words, and as soon as the 
man retired broke the seal and read. 

"If the parent consulted the daughter's hap- 
piness would he not find out from her whether 
she loves another? I think she does. May it 
not be a mistake for van Deg to possess the 
fair being? May her marriage to the man of 
your choice not hurry her to another world? 
Her obedience causes her to submit. I lay 
claim to her affections, but do not pretend to 
alter your determination. You have the repu- 
tation of patronizing merit as it appears in 
painting. Defer the nuptials to this day twelve 
month, and let van Deg on that day place his 
chef d'ceuvre on the left of the altar. If the 
one which appears on the right does not tell 



Legends of Antwerp 311 

of a more skilful master I abide the result. If 
it does, then it is fair to leave your daughter 
the privilege of choosing her husband.' ' 

The father was delighted with the proposal, 
and agreed to the trial of skill in his favourite 
pursuit. He accordingly returned word of his 
acceptance of the terms and notified van Deg 
thereof. 

A year passed away, during which the lovers 
never met. Elzia had lost sight of Quentin, 
and in answer to her inquiries concerning him, 
all that she had been able to learn was that 
shortly after their last interview he had left 
the city and had gone no one knew whither. 

The wedding day arrived. Elzia kept a smil- 
ing face, although her soul was weighed down 
by grief. 

The chapel was thronged with people anxious 
to view the ceremony, and as the bride, richly 
clad, was led to the altar by her father the latter 
announced that her hand was to be bestowed on 
the artist whose skill was to be determined by 
the merit of the pictures which stood veiled on 
either side of the altar. At the proclamation 
van Deg glanced triumphantly around, and 
striding to the picture he had painted, un- 
curtained it to their view. A burst of applause 



312 The Spell of Belgium 

rose from the audience as he did so, and wel f 
merited was the cry of approval. The paint- 
ing was of the chapel and the company as- 
sembled for the marriage. There was the priest 
all but breathing, while the bride and groom 
and their friends appeared as if in the full 
flush of joy. 

Algini was about to speak in rapture of the 
performance when suddenly the other curtain 
was drawn aside and a cry of horror burst 
from the multitude as they pressed forward to 
behold it better. Van Deg gazed in breathless 
wonder and Algini uttered a wild shriek of de- 
spair — ' ' My daughter ! ' ' 

The picture represented Quentin's dream; 
each face in it was easy to recognize, except that 
of the youth, which was buried in the bosom of 
the bride. But before they had fully scanned 
it, it was thrust aside and another appeared in 
its place. This represented a lonely arbour in 
which Algini in his old age dangled a beautiful 
infant which bore a likeness to Elzia, who sat 
on an opposite seat with her head resting on the 
bosom of a young man, whose arm encircled her 
waist. 

Every one was charmed and delighted beyond 
measure, and as they beheld the youth, every 
tongue cried, "The Blacksmith ! ' ' 




WELL OF QUEXTIX MATSYS, ANTWERP, 



Legends of Antwerp 313 

"Blacksmith no more," said Quentin, step- 
ping from behind the canvas, "but the artist 
who demands his reward. ' ' 

It is unnecessary to say more than that genius 
was rewarded, and to the happy husband 
Quentin Matsys, the Blacksmith of Antwerp, 
the world owes some of the finest relics of art. 



THE MILK GIRL 



Long, very long before the city of Ant- 
werp had attained the extent which it now 
has, the milk-women, who supplied the city 
with this indispensable liquid, met every morn- 
ing in a public square, which was soon desig- 
nated by the name of "Marche-au-Lait" (Milk 
Market). These women, like all business peo- 
ple at that time, belonged to a corporation 
which had its rules, rights and privileges. 
They were too proud to serve the "bourgeois" 
upon the steps of his door, so each servant was 
obliged to go to their stands to buy milk. 

The pump now situated in the Milk Market 
is a very pretty monument. It is surmounted 
by a carved statuette representing a milk^ 



314 The Spell of Belgium 

woman, with the peculiar brass milk can of the 
country upon her head. It is the history of this 
statuette which we propose to relate. 

There still exists on the Milk Market an old 
house, which is, one would say, in nearly the 
same condition that it was three hundred years 
ago. Like all the houses of that period (which 
are so faithfully represented in the admirable 
paintings of the celebrated artist, Baron Leys) 
the front is of wood, ornamented with carving 
in the Gothic style, one story projecting over 
the other, and surmounted by a triangular 
gable. One would think it had not undergone 
the slightest alteration since the day it was 
built. The same small iron knocker hangs upon 
the old oaken door. There is not the slightest 
doubt that the same stone forms the threshold, 
it is so worn and polished; it was formerly a 
square but has now become nearly a cylinder. 
The whole aspect of the house is so little 
changed, that if the first person who dwelt in 
it should come back to earth today he would 
easily recognize it. The interior as well as the 
exterior is unaltered. There are the same 
straight somber stairs, the same large fire- 
places, and gilded leather upon the principal 
room. Not a stone has been replaced, not a 
piece of wood removed. The repairs which 



Legends of Antwerp 315 

must have been made in the course of three 
hundred years, have only served to retain every- 
thing in its original state. But what is still 
more singular, the individuals who have suc- 
cessively occupied this house, and their num- 
ber must have been considerable, all resembled 
each other, in their manners and morals. Was 
it accident, predestination, or the unvarying 
aspect of the house, continually making the 
same impression upon its inhabitants, which 
finally made them nearly identical beings! 

The present inhabitant is a basket maker, as 
was the first, three centuries ago, and as have 
been all those who have occupied the house be- 
tween these two periods. They were from the 
first to the last, people whose ideas were at 
least half a century behind the times. If we 
should search the history of this antique dwell- 
ing, we should probably find that the biography 
of one would answer for all. The basket maker 
who occupied this house in 1530 was named 
Klaes Dewis — his wife Gertrude. They were, 
as we have said, at least half a century behind, 
in their manners, opinions and dress. His 
neighbours called him the man of the good old 
times. Although possessed of a moderate for- 
tune and without children, he was such a miser 
that he would, as the Flemish saying is, " split 



316 The Spell of Belgium 

a match in four pieces, " which is certainly the 
height of meanness. 

A young peasant girl, fresh and blonde, with 
large blue eyes, and picturesque costume, came 
every morning and placed herself before his 
house, to sell the milk which she brought in a 
fine brass can, polished like a mirror. The cus- 
tom of seeing her a few hours every day had 
gradually caused an affection between her and 
this worthy couple ; although in part based upon 
personal interest, still it was deep. As the 
basket maker sometimes said, he had for Lyntje, 
(which was the name of the pretty peasant), a 
paternal love, and as for Gertrude, his wife, she 
said she loved her as she would a daughter. 

When the weather was bad, if it rained or 
snowed, Dewis could not display his baskets, 
which were usually installed at the door, con- 
sequently Lyntje occupied their place and was 
sheltered from the elements. When it was cold, 
she came from time to time to warm herself in 
the kitchen. The milk girl was touched by 
these delicate attentions, and showed it by giv- 
ing good measure to Mother Dewis, who for one 
Hard had often more milk than her neighbours 
for two. These agreeable relations had ex- 
isted for several years, when suddenly an un- 
foreseen event terminated them. 



Legends of Antwerp 317 

One morning in the month of August, 1530, 
Dewis did not see the young peasant arrive at 
her accustomed hour. He waited until the mid- 
dle of the day before he put his baskets out, as 
it threatened to rain. Such a thing had not 
happened since the day he first made her ac- 
quaintance. Mother Dewis was so affected that 
she forgot to buy milk of another. This gave 
her husband an opportunity of saying that the 
use of milk was only a luxurious habit. But it 
made no impression upon his better half, to 
whom the absence of Lyntje was a cause of 
great inquietude. 

"Can she be sick?" she asked him with 
anxiety. But then she recalled her robust con- 
stitution, her rosy cheeks, and dismissed that 
thought as impossible. 

The next day no Lyntje. This was extremely 
grave, and their anxiety was at its height. The 
basket maker was on the point of going out of 
the city (which he had not done for perhaps 
twenty years) to the village where Lyntje lived. 
He would have executed this design if his wife 
had not observed to him, that he would gravely 
compromise the soles of his shoes. This judi- 
cious remark caused him to postpone his ex- 
cursion until the next day. The next morning 
a countryman came to inform them of the death 



318 The Spell of Belgium 

of Lyntje. The poor girl had been taken ill and 
died the same night. Before dying, she had 
remembered her friends in the city, and had 
expressed the desire that some one would carry 
them the fatal news. The basket maker and his 
wife, smitten in their dearest affection, wish- 
ing to do something for the repose of her soul, 
formed the resolution that they would never 
again use milk ! 

ii 

Several weeks had passed since the death of 
the generous milk girl, and her old friends had 
not been able to recover the calm of their former 
life. They seemed on the contrary to become 
more melancholy as the days and weeks wore 
on after that unfortunate event. Instead of 
taking the air upon their doorsteps and con- 
versing with their neighbours, as they had been 
in the habit of doing, they never sat there now, 
and had become nearly invisible. They went 
regularly every morning to the cathedral, where 
as exemplary Christians, they attended the first 
mass. Then they had such a depressed air, the 
expression of their faces showed a grief so bit- 
ter, that not an inhabitant of the market dared 
to speak to them. When, however, one bolder 
than the others ventured to question them, he 



Legends of Antwerp 319 

obtained only a few syllables in response. The 
neighbours, who all felt a great sympathy for 
them, would have been glad to console them. 
They did not know what to think of such sin- 
gular conduct, so contrary to all their hab- 
its. 

"I cannot believe that grief alone, for a friend 
like Lyntje, could affect them to such a point,' ' 
said Mynheer Schuermans, the plumber, one 
day to his friend, Mynheer Dorekens, the baker 
upon the corner, who in the morning came to 
chat with one or the other of his neighbours 
while his last oven of bread was baking. 

"It is true that they lost something/ ' re- 
sponded he, "because my wife says so, and she 
is incapable of telling a falsehood. You know, 
neighbour, Mother Dewis had more milk for 
her Hard than we for two. ' ' 

"And have you noticed,' ' said the wife of 
Schuermans, joining in the conversation held 
before her door, "that Dewis completely neg- 
lects his business? Only yesterday he forgot 
to put out his baskets when he returned from 
the cathedral. They have not opened their door 
during the day. It is thirty years since we 
have lived upon the market, and I cannot re- 
member such a thing to have happened. If it 
had rained — but such superb weather. Is their 



320 The Spell of Belgium 

business in a bad state? I do not think so. He 
has money.' ' 

"What can it be?" said all three. 

At the same instant the basket maker's door 
slowly opened, and he came out with so much 
gravity, even solemnity, that the neighbours 
were struck with astonishment and suddenly 
ceased their conversation. There was reason 
for it. It was the middle of the week, notwith- 
standing which he had on his Sunday suit, which 
at this time never occurred except upon impor- 
tant occasions. To the friendly nod of his 
neighbours he responded by a silent and melan- 
choly salutation, and advanced with slow and 
measured steps in the direction of a very fine 
mansion situated near the cathedral. They 
watched him until he had reached the mansion. 

"Myn Gott! what does that mean?" gasped 
the plumber, leaning towards Dorekens, who 
was stupefied like himself. "I hope he is not 
going to knock at that door. That will be" — 
but before he had time to finish his sentence, 
Dewis already had the knocker in his hand, and 
let it fall heavily. The blow made the attentive 
neighbours shudder, and had the same effect 
upon their nervous systems as an electric shock. 

"May all the saints come to aid us!" cried 
Schuermans. ' l How will this end ? ' ' 



Legends of Antwerp 321 

"Has Gertrude had an attack of apoplexy ?" 
exclaimed his wife. ' l Then, ' ' — But, before she 
could finish, the door in question had been 
opened, and the basket maker had entered. 

In order to understand the astonishment of 
the neighbours, it will suffice to say that the 
mansion which Dewis had so audaciously en- 
tered was the residence of the archbishop. As 
it was generally understood that a person must 
be in an excessively critical position before dar- 
ing to address this high ecclesiastical function- 
ary, one will easily understand the impression 
upon the neighbours of such an important act 
upon the part of the basket maker, who was 
generally known as rather a timid man. We 
will leave them for a moment discussing their 
opinions, to follow Dewis, but before all, we 
must make known to the reader the reasons 
which had induced the basket maker to take such 
an important step. 

in 

It was hardly three days after the death of 
Lyntje, when one night they were awakened by 
a strange noise, occasioned it seemed to them by 
some one who had opened the door of their 
dwelling. They listened attentively. Nothing ! 
The clock of the cathedral was just striking. 



322 The Spell of Belgium 

They counted the strokes. As Dewis was pre- 
paring to rise, he heard the cry of the watch- 
man, " Midnight, and all is well," which con- 
vinced him that he was deceived. An instant 
after, however, he thought he heard the noise 
of some one slowly ascending the stairs which 
led to his room. He sat up in bed, listened with 
anxiety, and tried to find an explanation for 
these sinister and incomprehensible sounds. 
They became more and more distinct, and ap- 
proached nearer the door. 

"Who is there?" cried Dewis, with a voice 
choking with fear. 

No answer. A cold perspiration covered his 
body, his teeth chattered, his eyes were dis- 
tended, as he tried to pierce the darkness. Sud- 
denly it seemed to him that his door opened. 
He had no strength to cry out, but waited more 
dead than alive. An icy wind penetrated the 
room, agitated the curtains and swept across 
the face of Dewis. Sighs and sobs commenced. 
What was it? Had it a form, a body? Was it 
a human being? Dewis knew not, although he 
heard only too well the groans and sobs and be- 
lieved he distinguished steps, but he saw noth- 
ing, heard not a word, not a syllable. Never- 
theless the strange intruder, the spirit or ghost, 
continued to moan. It advanced towards the 



Legends of Antwerp 323 

bed, approached so near that the sobs sounded 
almost in the ear of the terrified basket maker. 
Then slowly it departed. Dewis heard it go out 
by another door beside his bed and enter an ad- 
joining room, where it continued to lament. 

' i Now what was this 1 An apparition, a spec- 
ter, or simply the effect of an hallucination ?" 
he asked himself. Again he heard the same 
noises as before. This time they resounded 
above him in the attic, then ceased, and at last 
the house became silent. It will be superfluous 
to say that after the departure of his frightful 
guest, he was in a pitiable state. He did not 
dare to rise, and he could not sleep. The ris- 
ing sun found him terrified and overcome. As 
to his wife, she had immediately after the first 
noise gone to sleep again. When her husband 
related to her what he had heard she appeared 
incredulous, and did all in her power to soothe 
and quiet him. She succeeded in partly con- 
vincing him that what he believed to have heard 
was the result of tired and excited nerves. 

But when the following night at the same 
hour the groans recommenced, he had the pres- 
ence of mind to awaken her. They both lis- 
tened attentively. Like the preceding night, 
the same sighs and sobs were heard, first softly, 
then they seemed to enter the chamber, going 



324 The Spell of Belgium 

out at the second door and finishing in the 
attic. This time there was no doubting that 
the apparition was real. What was to be done ? 
The basket maker was a member of the society 
instituted at the cathedral to perform rites for 
the repose of souls, which gave him the privilege 
of joining in the processions, covered with a 
mantle of black silk. He had ever been ani- 
mated with the laudable desire of delivering 
souls from purgatory, and did not for a single 
instant doubt that this was some poor soul in 
trouble, who had come to recommend himself to 
his powerful intervention. 

But whose soul was this, and what body had 
it animated in this world? The soul of Lyntje? 
That could not be. They prayed every day for 
her, and had resolved to use no more milk, for 
the repose of the soul of this very regretted 
friend. 

We have said before that they attended regu- 
larly every morning the first mass in the ca- 
thedral. In consequence of these reflections, 
they resolved hereafter to hear two masses a 
day, the second for the soul in trouble which had 
chosen their dwelling to manifest its desire to 
be delivered from purgatory. They had a firm 
belief in the efficacy of prayer, but unfortunately 
the masses failed to have any good result. The 



Legends of Antwerp 325 

apparition returned every night, the sighs and 
groans increased in violence. At first, they 
were not discouraged, but soon lost confidence 
in their prayers, and with that, courage. They 
slept no more and during the days conversed 
only of the incredible events of the nights, and 
to complete their sorrow, they dared not speak 
of it to any one for fear of being called super- 
stitious or visionary. It was not astonishing, 
then, that the neighbours noticed a great change 
in the habits of Dewis. Both he and Gertrude 
became more melancholy and grew thin and pale. 
Their shop remained shut for days in succession. 
At last they concluded they could no longer en- 
dure this state of things, and accordingly Dewis 
told his wife that he was going to the arch- 
bishop to tell him of the affair, notwithstanding 
the gossip such a step would give rise to. Far 
from opposing, she applauded his design. And 
this is the reason why the basket maker had 
dared dress himself up in his best suit to make 
this visit, so well calculated to astonish his 
neighbours. 

Admitted to the presence of this worthy ec- 
clesiastic, he informed him fully of the grave 
motives which had forced him to take this step. 
He spoke to him of the remedies employed — the 
sprinkling of holy water, prayers repeated with 



326 The Spell of Belgium 

fervour, and long masses. He did not hide from 
him that all this had been of no avail, which had 
occasioned in himself and wife a certain lack of 
confidence in their pious practices. In conclu- 
sion, he explained the nature of their relations 
with the deceased milk girl. 

The high dignitary listened with patience to 
the explanations and griefs of the basket maker, 
and when he had finished made him a little ser- 
mon upon his lack of faith in prayers and 
masses. He promised to come to his house 
that evening, to see or at least to hear the spec- 
ter, to exorcise it, and to deliver the house from 
the obnoxious visitor. His words filled the 
basket maker with great joy, and if he had not 
been forbidden, he would have cried aloud in 
the street that the archbishop was to honour 
him with a visit that evening. Thus on return- 
ing before his neighbours his looks evinced so 
much joy and pride that Schuermans and his 
wife, also Dorekens, were perhaps more puzzled 
than they were an hour before at his profound 
sorrow. 

The archbishop came in the evening to the 
dwelling of Dewis, and remained very late at 
night. What did he? What saw he? What 
was his opinion of the specter, and in what 
category of phantoms did he place it? Did his 



Legends of Antwerp 327 

prayers dissipate it? These are questions 
which it is impossible for us to answer, as no 
one ever knew what transpired. But tradition 
says that from that night the house of the bas- 
ket maker was no more troubled, and every- 
thing resumed its customary appearance. 
They contented themselves with their morning 
mass, as formerly, and held their usual con- 
versations with their neighbours at the door. 



But a few days hardly had passed after the 
visit of the archbishop when one morning the 
Milk Market was in great commotion, all the in- 
habitants formed in groups, men and women 
talking and gesticulating with vehemence. 

"Have you seen it? Have you heard it? 
What will become of us?" Such were the in- 
terrogations which were heard from all. The 
answers appeared to satisfy no one and only 
served to increase the general agitation. The 
milk girls mixed with the groups, neglecting 
their business to listen with astonishment to the 
interesting explanations of Schuermans and his 
friends. It must have been something very 
grave, for the inhabitants of the neighbouring 
streets came in crowds to learn the cause of the 
disturbance. The sighs and groans which had 



328 The Spell of Belgium 

so long troubled the old basket maker and his 
wife had been driven from the dwelling of 
Dewis. Immediately after midnight the spec- 
ter had promenaded back and forth in the 
streets, and each time that it passed, had 
stopped before the door of its friends, and had 
filled the air with its lamentations. It com- 
plained now in a more distinct manner, and 
cried frequently : — 

"Half water! Half milk! Small measure! 
I have lost my soul ! ' ' 

It was this the plumber heard, and his wife, 
and the baker and others. But no one except 
Dewis could explain these exclamations. He 
could be silent no longer. He called Schuer- 
mans and a few others, and confided to them 
the secret of what had happened to him. They 
all agreed that it was the soul of Lyntje alone 
which troubled the repose of the inhabitants. 
If it was not, why had it always showed a 
marked predilection for the house of Dewis? 
They now recollected that they had often had 
suspicions of the colour of the liquid which 
Lyntje sold, and many housekeepers had com- 
plained of the smallness of her measure, which 
applied so well to the words of the ghost : — 

1 < Half water ! Half milk ! Small measure ! ' ' 

The following night the same cries and lam- 



Legends of Antwerp 329 

entations were heard. There was no more 
sleep for those that dwelt on the Milk Market. 
Many of the inhabitants decided to move im- 
mediately rather than continue to reside in a 
street visited by specters and phantoms. They 
foresaw the time when the market would pre- 
sent the appearance of an abandoned village — 
when, happily, the plumber Schuermans had a 
brilliant idea. He proposed to place upon the 
middle of the market a monument representing 
the material form of the soul of Lyntje. 

"It was," he said, "a sure remedy against 
invasions of specters, and had been proved suc- 
cessful many times." He went on to explain 
the virtue of this remedy. * ' Specters, it is well 
known, are souls which some crime or sin obliges 
to wander over the earth until they can find 
some one who will replace them in this world. 
A statue serves perfectly well as a representa- 
tive, and consequently produces the same ef- 
fect." 

Dewis then made known to them that the 
archbishop had counseled him to erect a statue 
of the Holy Virgin. After long deliberations it 
was resolved that they would place two statues 
at the expense of the neighbourhood. Before 
the end of the week they set up both. The 
statuette of Lyntje was placed over a well at the 



330 The Spell of Belgium 

north of the market, that of the Virgin at the 
south, near the dwelling of Dewis. It is useless 
to add that from that day they have had no more 
trouble with specters. 

The legend explains the origin of the two 
images which are still to be seen at the ' ' Marche 
au Lait. ' ' Several years ago, when wells were 
replaced by pumps, they put the statuette of 
the Milk Girl upon the top of the pump. It is a 
veritable work of art, a jewel. We regret that 
the name of the sculptor is unknown to us. 



CHAPTER XIV 

IN THE WALLOON COUNTEY 

£>HE line of the old Flemish principality 
ran from Antwerp southwest to Courtrai, 
but today the line that divides the French 
and the Flemish speaking Belgians runs due 
east and west, from Vise to Courtrai, with 
Brussels midway in its course. 

North of the line are the fertile plains and 
gardens, the busy cities and the factories, of 
Flanders. Through them flows the Scheldt, the 
river of commerce. 

South of the line are the mines and the moun- 
tains, the foundries and the forests, of Namur, 
Liege, Hainault, and the Ardennes. This is the 
Walloon country, through which runs the Meuse, 
the river of romance. 

In the north live the stolid, easy-going, devout 
Flemish peasantry, while in the south are the 
lively, energetic, enterprising Walloons. They 
are a larger people physically than their neigh- 
bours, more heavily built, and of darker colour- 
ing, for there is a strain of Spanish blood in 

331 



332 The Spell of Belgium 

their ancestry. Many Walloons came to Amer- 
ica in the seventeenth century, and we have had 
few immigrants of better stock. Showalter 
says that the women are " famed for their in- 
dustry, thrift, cleanliness, capacity for hard 
work, and cheerfulness whatever their lot." 

The country of the Meuse and the Sambre 
is by far the loveliest part of Belgium. It 
abounds in myths and legends suited to the wild, 
romantic scenery of its hills and valleys. It 
abounds also in the villas and chateaux of the 
Belgian noblesse and haute bourgeoisie. The 
wealthy people of the cities delighted in their 
summers among the mountains of the Ardennes, 
while many families of ancient lineage but 
lesser fortunes lived the year round in their old- 
world houses. 

Some of the chateaux were of exceptional 
beauty. Our trip to Belceil, the seat of the de 
Ligne family, will never be forgotten, for it 
was the finest chateau in Belgium. His High- 
ness the Prince de Ligne had asked us out to 
luncheon, and we started about nine, motoring 
out toward Hal and Enghien. 

It was a bright, sunny day, and the country 
rolled away on every side, checkered with its 
crops in varying stages of ripeness into fields 
of green and orange and lemon and brown. The 



. 1 







In the Walloon Country 333 

roadside was flecked with red poppies and blue 
cornflowers, and quaint farmhouses dotted the 
landscape. We passed deep forests, too, with 
glimpses of old chateaux through the vistas. 

At Hal there was a lovely old church, with a 
Virgin famous for miracles. We stopped and 
went in; choir boys were singing antiphonally, 
and there was a sweet smell of incense and a 
soft, religious light. 

At Enghien there was a chateau which was 
favoured with a fairy protectrice, no less than 
Melusine, so famous in song and story. Long, 
long ago she married a mortal, Comte Kaymond 
de Foret, and raised for him a castle which she 
never ceased to guard. Always before the 
death of a member of the family "la fee Melu- 
sine apparait sur la terrasse du chateau." The 
Luxembourgs and other noble families changed 
their pedigrees in order that they might claim 
descent from fairy Melusine. 

Of lower degree but even greater service were 
the fairies who dwelt aforetimes in a cave at 
Arquenne. The good folk of the neighbourhood 
used to leave their soiled linen there of an eve- 
ning, with some food. In the morning they 
would return to find that the "little people" 
had done their work and left the clothes all clean 
and white. 



334 The Spell of Belgium 

After passing numberless quaint and pic- 
turesque villages we came at length to the gates 
of the park behind which stood the chateau of 
Belceil, with its courtyard and inclosing wings. 
We followed the road lined with orange trees 
and crossed a bridge over the moat into the 
broad court with the facade of the house on 
three sides. Footmen lined the steps as we 
mounted into the cool vestibule, from which we 
passed through various rooms into the hand- 
some salons. 

The house was a museum of valuable and his- 
toric things — potiches, curios and rare furni- 
ture. On the walls were great pictures repre- 
senting scenes in the story of the de Lignes, and 
presentation portraits of kings and queens. 

Through the windows we could see the wide 
moat outside, and the English garden opposite 
with its beds of brilliant flowers and its back- 
ground of trees and foliage. Soon after lunch- 
eon we went out into the sunny glare and the 
great heat of the open terraces, and crossed into 
the cool alleys of the French garden. 

A great lagoon opposite the main terrace was 
continued in a vista through the forest off to the 
horizon, broken by a monumental sculpture 
which was reflected in the water. The wood 
was divided formally by alleys leading to some 



In the Walloon Country 335 

architectural or natural detail, and open glades 
were arranged with pools, while a little riv- 
ulet, made artificially natural, went winding 
through the woods with a pretty path along- 
side. 

The Prince permitted the greater part of the 
garden and park to be used by the people of his 
little town, but Belceil was so out of the way 
that strangers never went there. I use the past 
tense, because the chateau has been razed to 
the ground since the war began. I also learn 
that two members of the de Ligne family have 
been killed. 

In order to carry out our plans we had to 
leave Belceil in the heat of the early afternoon. 
Motoring out again across the rolling land- 
scape we came to Mons, passing on the way 
through some of the de Croy properties and 
forests. This region is the great coal-mining 
district, the Borinage, and the beauty of the 
scenery is rather spoiled by the huge, conical 
mountains of the detritus which is brought out 
of the mines, and by the black, sooty look of 
things. 

Mons was a dull, quiet old town, rather pic- 
turesque in its way, with its old church and 
belfry crowning the hill. As we came out of 
the church the chime of bells in the tower musi- 



336 The Spell of Belgium 

cally rang the hour, sounding sweetly in the 
sleepy silence of the place. The stillness has 
since been broken by other sounds than those, 
for Mons figured largely in the battle of the 
Meuse. 

From there we were off once more to visit 
the ruins of the old chateau of Havre, once the 
stronghold and residence of the de Croy family. 
It rose high out of a stagnant moat, all gray and 
pinkish, with irregular architecture and a tall 
tower with a bulbous top. From this rose the 
cross of Lorraine, for the de Croys quartered 
their arms with this great family. The 
chateau was quite stately and magnificent, and 
its courtyard, all grass-grown, must have seen 
fine sights in its day. 

Not far from Mons is Binche, a town cele- 
brated for its carnival held on Mardi-Gras — 
the festival of the Dancing Gilles. In spite of 
the fact that it has always been a source of 
much pride to the Belgians, its only unique 
feature was that of the Gilles, which distin- 
guished it from other carnivals. 

These Gilles, or dancing men, were charac- 
terized by their headdress and humps. The 
former was most striking and elaborate, resem- 
bling in shape the old top-hat of our great- 
grandfathers, and surmounted with magnificent 



In the Walloon Country 337 

ostrich feathers three or four feet long, giving 
the wearers the stature of giants. From each 
hat, besides, flowed wide, variegated ribbons. 
The trousers of a Gille were bedecked with 
trimmings of real lace, and ribbons matching 
those on the hat. About the waist was a silk 
belt from which hung small bells. Each Gille 
wore a mask. 

The entire outfit cost from forty to fifty dol- 
lars, which was a large sum for the peasant 
youths who were generally chosen by the carni- 
val committee. But the honour of being a Gille 
was so great, since only good dancers could be 
selected, and carried with it such prestige 
among the local damsels, that the young men 
were only too pleased to make the necessary 
financial sacrifice. 

On the afternoon of Mardi-Gras the Gilles, in 
full uniform and preceded by the local brass 
bands and musical clubs, appeared in procession 
and marched, two hundred strong, to the 
Grande Place, dancing to the music of the band. 
At every few steps they stopped, bending this 
way and that to make the bells at their waist 
ring more effectively. Their streamers floated 
to and fro with every motion, enveloping them 
in a rainbow of ribbon. The simultaneous ring- 
ing of bells and thumping of wooden sabots on 



338 The Spell of Belgium 

the cobblestones sounded like the echo of a cav- 
alry charge. 

Each Gille had a straw basket hanging from 
one side of his belt and filled with oranges, with 
which he bombarded the spectators as he 
danced along, men appointed for the purpose 
following close behind to see that the baskets 
were kept filled. A general battle of oranges 
between Gilles and carnival merrymakers en- 
sued, lasting till the procession reached the town 
hall. In front of this, on a platform, sat the 
mayor and his officials, and here the Gilles 
terminated the day's festivities by a sort of war 
dance which gave them a chance to show what 
they could do. 

The public joined in the fun, and soon thou- 
sands of persons — men, women and children — 
were gaily waltzing around the Grande Place. 
The sight of an entire population in carnival 
costume and masked, dancing in the open air 
to the music of the bands, was not one to be 
easily forgotten. The sport continued till late 
evening, when it was brought to an end by the 
mayor, who formally awarded a gold medal to 
the Gille who had proved himself the most ex- 
pert dancer of them all. 

From Binche we motored on again, calling on 
Prince Henri de Croy's cousins who lived in 




PRINCE HENRI DE CROY. 



In the Walloon Country 339 

the chateau of Le Boeulx, where Prince Henri 
himself had been born and brought up. Part 
of this house dates from 1100 a.d., and after its 
destruction in succeeding wars was rebuilt and 
added to repeatedly. For six centuries the de 
Croys have lived there without a break. 

In passing through a small town one came 
suddenly on its gate and saw the wide-standing 
f acade of the chateau facing across the terraces 
of the park. Inside there was a Gothic vesti- 
bule, and the rooms stretching into the wings 
were old-fashioned and interesting, some of 
them with old Chinese paper on the walls. 
On the rear side, towards the park, the ground 
fell away abruptly, so that the building seemed 
to stand very high, and one looked out over the 
tops of the trees of the forest. The living room 
was, strangely enough, at the top of the house, 
and was approached by a great double stairway 
with very old carved balustrades and panel- 
ing. 

Of still a different type was Ophem, the seat 
of the de Grunne family. The chateau was 
very quaint and pretty, an old monastery with 
a simple, vine-covered facade surrounding a 
little flower-bordered and parterred garden 
with a high balustraded wall at one side, shaded 
by overhanging trees. The front had been 



340 The Spell of Belgium 

added at a later time and was quite rococo in 
style, with many heavy moldings. This looked 
out over a terrace with a bit of park sloping 
down to a lagoon. Flowers in formal beds and 
rows gave colour everywhere. Near by was a 
dear little chapel with a statue in a niche out- 
side ; we were told that the niche had been de- 
signed by the Comtesse de Flandre. 

After tea we set off for home, scooting down 
towards Wavre and Perwez, through the land 
of Brabant. From the broken, hilly country 
we dropped gradually back among the rolling 
fields once more, all aglow with their crops, 
through the tree-lined avenues of the Foret de 
Soignes, and so into Brussels. 

The chateau life was not one of gaiety — in 
fact, I think perhaps most of us would have con- 
sidered it rather dull. There was some riding 
on horseback, walking, and a little tennis, but 
on the whole not very much outdoor exercise. 
Some one has said that "they raised the habit 
of doing nothing in the open air to the level of 
a science.' ' 

The chief interest of the men was shooting 
and hunting. On many of the properties the 
game was carefully preserved. When the 
season opened, chateau life became for the time 
quite gay, with dejeuners de chasse and diners 



In the Walloon Country 341 

de cliasse, lively reunions of the fashionable 
set. They hunted foxes and hares, and a few 
kept packs of hounds. Over the border in the 
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, where some Bel- 
gians held property, the wild boar was occa- 
sionally hunted. 

As the Belgians are nearly all musical, the 
children of the family were taught to play va- 
rious instruments, and the evenings were 
passed pleasantly enough, some member of the 
group singing while others played the piano, 
'cello, or violin. 

In the Ardennes country the houses were 
often near enough for frequent calls and visits, 
made in the late afternoon when all would as- 
semble round the tea table. The quiet days 
were rarely broken by even the smallest excite- 
ment. These families certainly passed from 
one extreme to the other during the early 
months of the war. 

Another motor trip took us somewhat farther 
afield, by Liege and Spa into the Ardennes, and 
back through Dinant and Namur. This is the 
Belgium of the Middle Ages, of Emperor 
Charlemagne and all his kin, of wars, and of 
wonders without end. Even its once famous 
watering place we found a thing of the past and 



342 The Spell of Belgium 

not out of harmony with the legendary land 
round about. 

Liege is the capital of the Walloon district, 
and with its dozen strong fortresses was, with 
Namur, considered the chief defense of the 
Meuse valley. Namur was supposed to block 
the road between France and Brussels, while 
Liege was to fend off Germany from the Bel- 
gian capital. It commands all the roads from 
Germany, indeed it was the door to Belgium 
which, once forced open, left the whole country 
at the mercy of the invaders. In ten days from 
its fall, the government officials removed from 
Brussels to Antwerp, later to Ostend, and finally 
to Havre. In a fortnight the Germans had 
hewn their way to Charleroi. Liege as we saw 
it had about two hundred thousand inhabitants, 
and was beautifully placed on a high bluff over- 
looking the river, with hills and fertile valleys 
surrounding it. 

Not far from there is the ancient little town 
of Jupille, which they say is haunted by the 
shade of Pepin the Short, who lived there long 
ago. They still showed one the ruins of an old 
mill at the lower end of the village where 
Pepin's wife, Bertha of the Big Foot, took 
refuge from her irate lord on the occasion of 
some misunderstanding between them. 



In the Walloon Country 343 



This Bertha was the mother of the great 
Charlemagne and lived to a ripe old age, coming 
down to us as the heroine of many legends. It 
is claimed that her famous son was born in this 
same village of Jupille, although this is much 
disputed. The author of "La Meuse Beige' ' 
suggests that the Emperor may have been born 
in a carriage or at some village inn, for "Pepin 
his father constantly found himself on the high 
roads about 742, and Bertha his mother was 
obliged, like the honest woman she was, to go 
from one place to another to meet her lord." 

At Liege we crossed the river, with its pretty 
embankments and bridges, into the more hilly 
country, climbing up winding roads that fol- 
lowed the ravines and streams, into higher 
places where the air was fresh and fragrant. 
Some of the towns through which we passed 
had a really Alpine look. Finally we turned 
into the long avenue which led us into Spa. 

This pretty town, so famous as the first 
watering place in Europe, and for a long time 
the most fashionable, was deadly quiet that 
warm summer afternoon. On the terraces of 
the casino there was not a soul to be seen, and 
only two or three forlorn-looking drinkers at 
the spring-house. Even the promenades were 
empty. 



344 The Spell of Belgium 

We thought it might be the hour when people 
were resting, so later we fared forth to see the 
gaieties of which we had heard so much. This 
time we found half a dozen others walking aim- 
lessly up and down the streets. At dinner, 
silence reigned. In the evening we tried our 
best to cheer up, and went to the casino where a 
few persons were scattered about the audi- 
torium listening to music. This seemed to be 
the height of the season at Spa, whose name has 
come into our language as a synonym for gaiety 
and relaxation. 

So we got away next morning and ran up a 
long, steep, splendid road on to fine rolling up- 
lands that waved away like the Bohemian High- 
lands, with lovely views in the blue distance. 
We were some fifteen hundred feet up, and the 
air was very refreshing as we sped along. 
Now and then we dipped again into valleys with 
wooded slopes and ravines with palisades. We 
were in the real Ardennes country, the famous 
"Forest of Arden" of "As You Like It," which 
was sung by Ariosto a century or so before that. 

In this region was the church of St. Hubert, 
to which peasants made Christian pilgrimage. 
Under the choir was a crypt where they knelt. 
A thread from the stole of the ancient saint was 
said to have had the power to cure hydropho- 



In the Walloon Country 345 

bia, if aided by cauterization. But more easily, 
"one may prevent hydrophobia by carrying on 
the finger a ring or wearing a medal which has 
touched the relics of the saint; also by eating 
or making one's animals eat the blessed bread 
of St. Hubert.' ' This bread is given chiefly fo 
dogs, I believe. 

We ran by picturesque La Roches and Roche- 
fort, with fine smooth roads following the beds 
of little rivers in the valleys and climbing in 
zigzags the low mountains till we came, about 
one o'clock, to Han. Here we went at once, of 
course, to the Grottes de Han, which were very 
popular with tourists. It was an experience 
worth having. We passed through endless pas- 
sages, grotesque and beautiful with stalactites 
and stalagmites, the varied effects well lighted 
by electricity. The finest thing, most terrible 
and impressive, was the Salle du Dome, where 
the black shadows were lost in the immensity 
of the vault. It is a cavern four hundred feet 
high and more than that in breadth, with a sort 
of mountain of broken boulders up which winds 
a path into the dusky gloom and blackness of 
the upper regions. But I must say it was more 
suggestive of the lower regions than the upper, 
especially when a guide with a flaring torch 
climbed and climbed, disappearing behind cliffs 



346 The Spell of Belgium 

of darkness and reappearing on precipices till he 
stood at last, a tiny figure far above us, in Sa- 
tan's Pulpit, and lighted a fire that seemed to 
burn in another world. 

Later we came to the banks of the subter- 
ranean river that flows through the mountain, 
and got into boats. As we floated down, the 
vaults reechoed the singing of our fellow- 
travelers. But presently we saw ahead of us 
the light of day, peering in through the end of 
the cave, and slipped out — into the rain. 

The car met us there, so we were able to get 
away again quickly. Off once more over the 
fine roadways, we passed Ciergnon, the summer 
chateau of the King, on its high bluff over- 
looking the vast landscape. Through more 
broken country we came down into the valley 
of the Meuse at Dinant, then one of the most 
picturesque places in Europe. Its palisades 
and striking cliff formations were crowned with 
ruined castles, like a miniature Khine. The 
city has since been destroyed. 

The abbey of Waulsort, which became a cha- 
teau, was at one bend of the river. According 
to tradition, it was founded by Count Eilbert in 
the reign of Louis IV — about the middle of the 
tenth century. The Count went one day to a 
fair in Picardie, and there he saw a horse which 



In the Walloon Country 347 

was much to his liking. He had no money with 
him, but offered the priest who owned the ani- 
mal his beautiful graven beryl as a pledge till 
he could send home for funds. The priest ac- 
cepted the offer and gave him the horse, but 
when the Count returned with the money he de- 
nied that he had the jewel or had so much as 
seen the Count before in all his life. In a fury 
Eilbert collected his men-at-arms and attacked 
the city where dwelt the forgetful cleric, sack- 
ing and destroying it, even to the church. Then 
his anger cooled, and he regretted his hasty 
vengeance. As a sign of penitence he not only 
rebuilt the church, but erected the abbey also. 

Just down the river from Waulsort is the 
cave of Freya, near a chateau of the same name. 
The cavern is not large but is very beautiful, 
with shining white stalactites, pointed columns 
piercing lofty vaults, and jeweled cascades. 
One of its chambers has an opening in the roof 
which lets in the daylight. Some young men 
who were anxious to avoid the conscription of 
the Empire are said to have let themselves 
down into this cave by means of ropes. They 
lived there for some time, cooking by a small 
fire whose smoke blackened the walls of the 
cave, as you can still see. They were contented 
to stay quite close to this one room, without 



348 The Spell of Belgium 

much exploration, and it remained for a dog to 
really discover what lay beyond. 

The dog was a small one, and in chasing a 
fox he followed it through a hole in the earth 
and into the farther depths of the cave. Hear- 
ing his barks reechoing weirdly, the hunters 
enlarged the opening which he had found and 
followed him into the series of halls and gal- 
leries which make up the cavern. On the walls 
are traces of pagan ceremonies which lead 
scholars to believe that the place was used in 
ancient times for the worship of the goddess 
Freya, who was the patron of love and liberty 
in the Scandinavian mythology. 

Speeding along the river toward Dinant we 
came to the famous Rock of Bayard, a tall pin- 
nacle split off from the main cliff, with the road 
passing through a narrow gorge between. It 
has been renowned since the days of Charle- 
magne, when Bayard, the enchanted horse, with 
the four sons of Aymon clinging to his back, 
leaped across the chasm in mad flight from the 
vengeance of the Emperor. As one of the 
brothers was no less than sixteen feet in height, 
and the other three nearly as tall, it was really 
something of an achievement. 

But Bayard was a very remarkable animal. 
The sons of Aymon had received him as a gift 




ROCK OP BAYARD, DINANT. 



In the Walloon Country 349 

from their cousin Maugis, along with an excel- 
lent sword named Flamberge, whose very wind 
would cut off a man's head. It seems that this 
Maugis had heard of a wonderful steed reared 
on an island in the Meuse and kept there by a 
giant named Eouart. So he went over and 
called on the giant, telling him stories till he 
fell fast asleep. Then he set out to find the 
horse, which he soon discovered in a cavern 
stable guarded by a dragon. With no other 
weapon than a fork, Maugis slew the monster. 
When Bayard came forward to see what was 
going on, the young man asked politely if he 
might mount him. As the horse made no ob- 
jection, Maugis mounted and rode him down to 
his boat. 

After many adventures, Bayard and the four 
sons of Aymon were all captured by Charle- 
magne, who pardoned the young men on condi- 
tion that the eldest should make a pilgrimage 
beyond the seas and free his horse before he 
went. 

But the older brother was hardly out of sight 
when the Emperor ordered Bayard brought to 
a bridge across the Meuse for his inspection. 
"Ah, Bayard," said he, "you have plagued me 
many times, but I have you now!" With that 
he had a great stone fastened about the horse's 



350 The Spell of Belgium 

neck and the animal thrown into the river. 
When he saw that Bayard sank to the bottom 
he cried out, "I have nothing more to ask. 
Finally he is destroyed I" But Charlemagne 
rejoiced too soon, for the horse struck off the 
weight, rose to the surface, and set out for 
shore. There he shook himself, gave a loud 
neigh, and was off at top speed for the shelter- 
ing depths of the forests of the Ardennes, 
where, they tell you, he still lives to this day. 

Of Dinant so much has been written that 
there is little new to be said. In the Middle 
Ages it was famous for the work of its brass 
and copper smiths, and for its cakes. These 
were made of a sort of gingerbread and were 
often celebrated in song. One rime tells of the 
plight of the bakers who, in their anxiety to 
entertain properly the governor of their prov- 
ince, made in his honour a cake so large that 
the biggest oven in town was a foot too small 
to hold it. 

Because of its odd Latin inscription, the 
bridge of Dinant has also been much sung. 
Says one of the ditties : 

"Although the bridge of Dinant is a fine bridge of stone, 
Its beautiful inscription is finer still, I own. 

'Tis writ in perfect Latin, so read and do not jeer: 

'Hie pons confectus est' — it was built, you see, right 
here!" 



In the Walloon Country 351 

All around Dinant it is a storied land. There 
was, for instance, the cow of Ciney, who made 
qnite a stir in her day. It happened in the year 
of our Lord 1274, when the counts of Luxem- 
bourg and Namur were holding tournament at 
Andenne, and all the knights for leagues around 
had come flocking to show their prowess in feats 
of arms. Into the throngs gathered to watch 
the spectacle came a peasant, leading behind 
him the cow of cows. "He knew that after the 
heroic strife the contestants were accustomed 
to eat largely, and however much their glory, 
nothing was so comforting as a quarter of roast 
beef. Consequently he brought to sell to the 
butchers of Andenne a cow, superb and without 
faults, save for a slight blemish which did not 
in the least detract from the savour of the 
meat — she was not really the property of the 
young man, for he had stolen her." 

The cow belonged by rights to a good bour- 
geois of Ciney whose name was Rigaud. As 
it happened, he was in the crowd and recognized 
his property. Finding near him the sheriff of 
his town he stated his case and demanded in- 
stant justice on the robber. Now the sheriff 
was out of his own province, and had no au- 
thority to act. So he engaged the young man 
in conversation and led him artfully out of 



352 The Spell of Belgium 

Andenne till they had crossed the boundaries 
of his own territory. Once there it was, of 
course, a very simple matter to seize him and 
hang him by the neck till he was dead. 

But the matter did not end there, in spite of 
the good sheriff's precautions. The peasant 
was not a native of either Ciney or Andenne, 
but of the village of Jallet. His fellow vil- 
lagers considered themselves affronted, and 
complained to their overlord. He was more 
than affronted — he was positively outraged. 
Summoning his vassals he set forth to Ciney 
for the purpose of sending to its long rest the 
soul of the sheriff thereof. Ciney, however, 
closed its gates and sent to its brother towns 
for aid. Jallet likewise called upon its friends 
and laid siege to Ciney. The Duke of Brabant 
became involved in the war that followed, along 
with the counts of Flanders, Namur and Luxem- 
bourg. The Marshal of Liege invaded the Ar- 
dennes with fire and flame. 

Presumably the cow of Ciney returned to her 
master's home on the night of her abductor's 
death. But for more than two years the war 
on her behalf was waged, and fifteen or twenty 
thousand men were killed. At last the King of 
France was called in to settle the dispute, and 
the weary disputants accepted his verdict thank- 



In the Walloon Country 353 

fully enough. It was to the effect that each 
side being equally to blame, they must bear 
their own losses and leave things as they were 
before the war — so far as they could. Thus 
ended "la guerre de la vache de Ciney." 

Beyond Dinant lies the little village of Bou- 
vignes, whose ruined tower of Creve-Cceur has 
its story, too. In the sixteenth century the 
French laid siege to the place, which was an 
important town at that time. Among its de- 
fenders were three men of Namur whose beau- 
tiful wives had followed them to the front, 
fighting always at their sides like Amazons. 
When they saw their lords fall dying before 
them and realized that the enemy was making 
the last assault, they climbed to the top of the 
tower and, joining hands, threw themselves 
upon the rocks below. 

There have been forts in Namur since Boman 
days, and perhaps before that. A year ago 
there were nine, for the city with its thirty 
thousand inhabitants stands at the junction of 
the two rivers, Sambre and Meuse. Namur 
was the door to France, and the nine forts were 
its bolts and bars. On the 22d of August the 
G-ermans attacked it, and the next day the 
French, who had come to its defense, were 
forced to withdraw, defeated. 



354 The Spell of Belgium 

Namur as we saw it was a busy and pros- 
perous town. The Sambre is a water route to 
the Borinage, and the Meuse a financial asset 
to any city. Its streets were wide, with many 
parks. One feature made it specially attrac- 
tive^ — on the lamp-posts hung circular baskets 
just beneath the light, filled with flowers and 
hanging vines. 

Not far from Namur is the old hermitage of 
St. Hubert, clinging to a rocky cliff. There, in 
the Middle Ages, it was customary to illustrate 
Bible stories by the use of marionettes, small 
wooden figures which moved about the stage 
at the will of the monks. They were capable 
of acting out before the eyes of the marveling 
country folk the story of the Passion, of the 
cock that crowed thrice, and the penitence of 
Peter, stirring sluggish imaginations to re- 
newed devotion. "At the right, against the 
wall, you see a table. There, you should re- 
member, rested the scaffolding in the midst of 
which was played the Passion. From the open- 
ing below, the man of God pulled the strings 
of the machine. . . . The man of God was the 
hermit, at once the author of the actors and of 
the piece, and impressario of the troop which he 
had made with his own hands. ' ' 

Such was the Walloon country, as we saw it 



In the Walloon Country 355 

in our journeyings. It was our last trip in 
Belgium, for my husband received word that 
he had been named Ambassador to Japan. So 
we packed up our things and sadly said good-by 
to all the friends who had been so kind to us. 
Little did we think that there was soon to be 
war, and that many of them we should never see 
again. 

But Belgium has been through many wars be- 
fore this, many sieges and sackings and burn- 
ings, so we can feel sure that the spell of its 
enchantment will survive the gray wave of sol- 
diers which has swept across the land during 
these last sad months. 






CHAPTER XV 

A LAST WORD 

I 

Synopsis of the War 

Last night, when the half moon was golden and the white 
stars very high, I saw the souls of the killed passing. They 
came riding through the dark, some on gray horses, some 
on black ; they came marching, white-faced ; hundreds, thou- 
sands, tens of thousands. 

The night smelled sweet, the breeze rustled, the stream 
murmured; and past me on the air the souls of the killed 
came marching. They seemed of one great company, no 
longer enemies. 

John Galsworthy. 

$E were in America when the war broke 
out. It was as unexpected to me as an 
earthquake, notwithstanding the warn- 
ing I had when we were in Brussels. Not know- 
ing the situation then — that war was bound to 
come — I remember my interest in the excite- 
ment of several diplomats who dined with us 
one evening. They knew that trouble was 
brewing among the European nations. They 
could see the spark from the fuse of the bomb 

356 




A Last Word 357 

that was to throw all Europe into war. The 
bomb at last exploded, but not until June 28, 
1914. The Servians in revenge for Austrian 
oppression killed the Archduke Franz Ferdi- 
nand, heir to the Austrian throne, when he and 
his wife were in Sarajevo, Servia, on an official 
visit. 

Two of the principal events leading up to 
this situation were the assassination of King 
Alexander of Servia, son of King Milan and 
Queen Draga, in June, 1903, and the occupation 
of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria in 1908. 

Under King Peter, Alexander's successor, 
Russian dominance over Servian affairs grew 
stronger. 

When the heir tt> the Austrian throne was 
murdered the German Emperor sent a telegram 
to the Czar which read : — 

"The unscrupulous agitation which has gone on for years 
in Servia has led to the revolting crime of which Archduke 
Francis Ferdinand was the victim. Undoubtedly you will 
agree with me that we two, you and I, as well as all sov- 
ereigns, have a common interest in insisting that all those 
morally responsible for this terrible murder shall suffer de- 
served punishment." 

The Servian and Austrian governments 
could not come to an understanding, and Aus- 
tria declared war on Servia. 



358 The Spell of Belgium 

In answer to the Kaiser's telegram the Czar 
replied : — 

"A disgraceful war has been declared on a weak nation. 
The indignation at this, which I fully share, is immense in 
Russia. I foresee that soon I cannot withstand the pres- 
sure that is being brought to bear upon me, and that I shall 
be forced to adopt measures which will lead to war." 

So it developed that Eussia backed up Servia, 
and Germany backed up Austria. 1 

Germany needed to expand her territory and 
commerce and was thoroughly prepared for 
war. At that time Germany, Austria and Italy 
were in a Triple Alliance; Russia, France and 
England a Triple Entente ; Italy refused to aid 
Germany and Austria, however, because she 
was not bound by her treaty to do so in an 
offensive war. She was humorously classed 
with Greece and Roumania in "the triple at- 
tendre," but on May 22, 1915, she joined the 
Allies, declaring war on Austria. 

One of Germany's excuses in entering upon 

i The best authorities, of course, on the causes of the war 
are: 

The English White Paper 
The German White Book 
The Belgian Gray Book 
The Russian Yellow Book 
The Austrian Red Book 
The French Yellow Book 



A Last Word 359 

the war was to keep the "barbarian Kussians" 
out of Europe, but curiously, at this time King 
Albert received an ultimatum from the Kaiser 
demanding that the German army should be 
given the right of way through Belgium. The 
King replied that the Kaiser must respect the 
independence and neutrality of Belgium, and 
refused to let the Germans pass through the 
country. A second ultimatum was delivered, 
which demanded that a reply be given within 
seven hours. If within this time no answer 
was returned, or an answer unfavourable to 
Germany, war would be declared. 

On August 2d the Germans entered the Grand 
Duchy of Luxembourg. On the 3d they entered 
Belgium. 

The statement made by the Imperial Chan- 
cellor von Bethman-Hollweg in the Eeichstag 
on August 4th acknowledges the violation of 
Belgium : * 

"We were compelled to over-ride the just 
protests of the Luxembourg and Belgian gov- 
ernments. Our troops have occupied Luxem- 
bourg and perhaps are already on Belgian soil. 
Gentlemen, that is a breach of international 
law. It is true that the French Government has 
declared at Brussels that France is willing to 

i From the German White Book. 



360 The Spell of Belgium 

respect the neutrality of Belgium so long as her 
opponent respects it. France could wait, but 
we could not. The wrong — I speak frankly — 
that we are committing we will endeavour to 
make good as soon as our military goal has 
been reached." 

The Germans motored into Belgium by three 
different roads. Fifteen hundred picked sol- 
diers came in advance in one hundred and fifty 
automobiles. The army followed at such speed 
that their commissariat could not keep up with 
them, and they did not even wait for their heavy 
siege guns. They expected to live on the 
country, and so some straggling parties of Ger- 
man soldiers were captured by peasants with an 
offer of food. 

The charming little border town of Vise was 
the first to be destroyed by the Germans. 
"This district contains a large population of 
gun-makers familiar with the use of firearms 
and unfamiliar with the ways of warfare, and 
it seems proven that several citizens of Vise 
did take part in the hostilities and that they 
fired at the enemy. The Germans retaliated 
with ruthless severity." 1 

Among the weaknesses in the defense of 

i From "How Belgium Saved Europe," by Dr. Charles 
Sarolea — as is much of the following. 



A Last Word 361 

Liege were the lack of sufficient soldiers to man 
the forts, and the long distances between the 
different fortresses, as well as the lack of sup- 
port by rifle entrenchments. The fortresses 
did not prove impregnable because they were 
built to withstand a horizontal fire, while the 
German howitzers dropped shells from above. 
The three German army corps under General 
von Emmich made attack after attack. On the 
third day they lost twenty-five thousand men, 
some of the crack regiments from Berlin suf- 
fering heavily. The forts held out long after 
the town was occupied by the Germans for the 
reason that they were built to defend the river 
approaches rather than the town, and until Au- 
gust 5th the Germans were unable to cross the 
Meuse. 

It was difficult for the Germans to get the 
proper range for their big guns, and the story 
is told that a German soldier with a white flag 
of truce walked towards a fort in order to get 
the correct distance. His white flag was re- 
spected until he arrived at a spot where he sig- 
naled back to his comrades. It is needless to 
say that he was then killed. From the moment 
when the Germans were able to get the proper 
range with their heavy siege artillery, the fate 
of Liege was sealed. Toward the end of Au- 



362 The Spell of Belgium 

gust, all the forts were occupied by the Ger- 
mans. 

"The resistance of Liege is not only one of 
the most magnificent achievements in military 
annals ; — it is also one of the decisive events in 
the world's history.' ' 

It has already been the inspiration of much 
poetry and prose. The following extract is 
taken from the poem called, 

"HOW LIEGE HELD THE ROAD" a 

We were pounding at the anvils when they pounded at our 

gate; 
"Open," cried the German squadrons; "let us pass, or meet 

your fate! 
We are millions; dare deny us and Liege is but a name." 
But we chose to die in honour than to buy our lives in 



So we banked our eager fires, and we laid aside the sledge, 
Recking only that our sires had endowed us with the 

pledge 
To maintain an ally's honour, to uphold the Belgian code, 
And we answered with our cannon, that liege would hold 

THE ROAD ! 

Here are a few of Verhaeren's remarks on 
the fall of Liege : 

"It is true that for the moment our factories 
are silenced and seemingly dead, but as soon 

i From the volume of poems entitled "The Song of the Guns," 
by Herbert Kaufman. 



A Last Word 363 

as the war is over they will awake again like 
sleeping monsters. We were a little too sure 
of the tomorrow. War in our eyes was other 
peopled business. It has come to us, formi- 
dable and terrible, at a moment when we did not 
look for it; like a mountain whose crumbling 
rocks are falling upon us to crush us William's 
army has come upon us. Our numbers were 
small and we stood alone. We were attacked 
with disloyalty and betrayal. We hastily raised 
our forces at Liege in old forts. All that was 
done in a day, in an hour, in a moment, and 
at once we became the marvel of the world. 
The fate of the Spartans was like that of the 
Liegeois. Today, as then, a handful of men 
saved the world. We should have only room 
in our hearts for pride. Tears dishonour us." 

JSTamur, another great stronghold of Belgium, 
was bombarded on August 21st, and thirty-six 
hours later the Germans entered the town. 
When the forts were destroyed only twelve thou- 
sand out of the twenty- six thousand Belgian 
soldiers were left. Ammunition was so scarce 
in this region that the Civic Guard had to give 
up their weapons to the remaining Belgian 
troops. The French and the British as well 
suffered a terrible defeat at Charleroi August 



364 The Spell of Belgium 

22d, and were obliged to retire. Fighting all 
the way, they made their masterly retreat 
through Mons into France by way of St. 
Quentin. 

Between the fifth and twentieth of August the 
poor wounded and dying soldiers were brought 
into Brussels. When the crowd in the streets 
shrieked and howled "Vive la Belgique!" the 
wounded tried to wave their arms (those who 
had them), and show some sign of appreciation. 
Houses were opened and prepared by the Red 
Cross Society to receive them. The refugees 
as well, from Charleroi and Liege, and from the 
districts where the fighting was going on, rushed 
to Brussels for protection, but the Germans 
were close behind and entered the city on Au- 
gust 20th without firing a shot. 

At the beginning of the war hardly any food 
was to be had in Brussels and other Belgian 
towns, and what could be bought went up to 
very high prices. Flour cost fifty cents a 
pound, and bread one franc for two pounds. 
Salt was not obtainable. 

Adolphe Max, the Burgomaster of Brussels, 
was forced to take charge of all supplies. The 
city fed the Germans for eight days without 
pay. After this period the Mayor refused to 
furnish food longer without compensation. 



A Last Word 365 

Then field kitchens were established in several 
prominent squares — in the Grande Place, be- 
fore the Palais de Justice, and in front of the 
King's palace — where the beautiful trees of the 
park were cut down for firewood. The mu- 
seums and hotels were turned into sleeping 
places for officers and men. The Palais de 
Justice was made not only a kitchen but also 
a bath house. The railway stations, too, were 
used for this purpose. 

No carriages or bicycles were allowed to 
leave Brussels. The people lived in constant 
terror from German aeroplanes that were flying 
overhead. After the Germans occupied the city 
no one dared to speak English. 

The Germans thought that Belgian weapons 
were hidden in the ponds, and so they drained 
them, and carted away the fish to be eaten by 
themselves. Fish and bread could not be 
bought by the people, even if they offered to 
pay for them. 

Every day fresh troops and aeroplanes and 
ammunition passed through or over Brussels. 
Cartloads and trainloads of dead Germans were 
brought night and day to the Gare du Luxem- 
bourg to be shipped on to the Fatherland. The 
moaning of the wounded and the dying was piti- 
ful. 



366 The Spell of Belgium 

Non-combatants of all nations fighting the 
Germans were taken prisoners and sent to Ger- 
many. All women between the ages of fifteen 
and forty were kept under German guard ; those 
over forty were told to report every few days 
to the German authorities. 

Villages like Hofstade and Sempst were 
taken and retaken again and again. Dinant 
and Termonde fell within a week after the oc- 
cupation of Brussels. The bombardment of 
Malines lasted three weeks. Termonde changed 
hands twice, Malines three times. 

The siege of Antwerp began the 26th and 
lasted several days. The Zeppelin raid before 
the bombardment was most terrible, but the 
Germans did not accomplish their purpose of 
striking the palace and killing the royal family. 
After this, the Queen went to England for a 
time with her children, returning later, but the 
King remained in Antwerp and led the de- 
fense. 

The small Belgian force had at least kept the 
Germans out of Antwerp until the valuable oil 
tanks had been destroyed, as well as the ships 
in the harbour and the precious stores of rub- 
ber from the Congo. The English marines ap- 
peared toward the last, and gave some assist- 
ance, but the city was finally captured by the 



A Last Word 367 



Germans, before whom, on September 5th, the 
Belgian army retired to La Panne. Ostend 
was occupied by the Germans the 16th of Octo- 
ber. Severe fighting took place at Nienport 
the 23d, and Westende and Middelkerke were 
destroyed. Dixnmde fell November 11th. Be- 
tween the 12th and the 15th, 100,000 Germans 
were killed, and the Yser Canal flowed with 
human blood. 

November 18th, Flanders, as in days of old, 
was flooded from the sea-coast almost to Ypres, 
drowning out the enemy. In December, activi- 
ties were renewed along the Yser, but the 
trenches about Ypres, "the key to the coast 
campaign,' ' were only captured February 15th. 
Ypres at last fell in May, after repeated at- 
tacks. 

The exodus of a bleeding race was one of 
the saddest sights in history. The Belgians 
literally swarmed into Holland, where they are 
cared for in camps even today. The reason 
of this exodus to England and Holland is found 
in the treatment of the Belgians by the invad- 
ers. I will not go into the subject of atrocities, 
but simply give an extract from the report of 
the Commission of Inquiry on the Violation of 
the Rules of International Law, and the Laws 
and Customs of War, 



368 The Spell of Belgium 

"From the total mass of evidence received by 
us we are able to deduct and prove absolutely 
true the following conclusions. . . . 

"I. The first was the barbarous device of com- 
pelling bodies of citizens, old and young, male 
and female, to march in front of German troops 
in order to shield them from the fire of the 
Allies. 

"II. The second was the imprisonment, either 
under the title of ' Hostages/ or on other pre- 
texts, of individuals, families, or groups of peo- 
ple, who were arrested at hazard and for no 
good reason, shut up without air, without sani- 
tary precautions, and without food, in churches, 
barns and stables, and carried off to Germany, 
where they were kept under conditions which 
made hygiene and decency impossible. 

"III. The third series of acts consists of 
wholesale murders of civilians and of the sack 
and burning of dwelling houses; concerning 
these incidents the light of evidence grows daily 
stronger.' p 

These men were in command when the atroci- 
ties were perpetrated: The Governor-General 
of Belgium was Field Marshal Baron von der 
Goltz; von Buelow was in command of Namur 
and Liege ; von Boehn was in command at Ter- 
monde. Others in this list were von Emmich, 



A Last Word 369 

von Nieker, von Luetwitz, and Major Dieck- 
mann. 

But the Belgians are a brave people and they 
are used to misfortune, so we may believe that 
though seemingly conquered, they will finally be 
triumphant. Long live the Belgians! Long 
live their King ! 

ii 

Letters from the Front 

I insert a few extracts from letters written 
by reliable people about Belgium, or by Bel- 
gians during the war, in order to show the true 
state of affairs. Most of them were written 
in French and have been translated. With the 
exception of the Cardinal's letter, 1 none of them 
have been published. 

Extract from a letter from Brussels in Au- 
gust, 1914. 

"We are living in suspense now, as the Ger- 
mans are getting very strict and angry. Boys 
and young men leave daily to join the army, and 
the different ways of crossing the frontier are 

iNote: — I have heard the spreading of the Cardinal's letter 
by Mme. Carton de Wiart was one of the reasons of her ar- 
rest, trial and imprisonment. 



370 The Spell of Belgium 

very amusing. The Germans have forbidden 
the letter by the Cardinal of Malines to be read 
in the churches, but needless to say, we all have 
it." 

Extract from the Pastoral Letter of His 
Eminence, Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of 
Malines, Belgium : 

"My very dear brethren: 

"It was in Eome itself that I received the 
tidings — stroke after stroke — of the partial de- 
struction of the Cathedral Church of Louvain, 
next of the burning of the library and of the 
scientific installations of our great university, 
and of the devastation of the city, and next of 
the wholesale shooting of the citizens and of 
tortures inflicted upon women and children and 
upon unarmed and undefended men. 

"And, while I was still under the shock of 
these calamities, the telegraph brought us news 
of the bombardment of our beautiful metropoli- 
tan church, of the church of Notre Dame au 
dela Dyle, of the episcopal palace, and of a 
great part of our dear city of Malines. . . . 

"I craved courage and light, and sought them 
in such thoughts as these ; a disaster has visited 
the world, and our beloved little Belgium, a 




CARDINAL MERCTER. 



A Last Word 371 

nation so faithful in the great mass of her popu- 
lation to God, so upright in her patriotism, so 
noble in her King and Government, is the first 
sufferer. She bleeds; her sons are stricken 
down within her fortresses and upon her fields, 
in defense of her rights and her territory. 

"Soon there will not be one Belgian family 
not in mourning. Why all this sorrow, my God I 
Lord, Lord, hast Thou forsaken us ? . . . 

"When, immediately upon my return from 
Rome, I went to Havre to greet our Belgian, 
French and English wounded; when, later, at 
Malines, at Louvain, at Antwerp, it was given 
to me to take the hand of those brave fellows 
who carried a bullet in their flesh, a wound on 
their forehead, because they had marched to the 
attack of the enemy or borne the shock of this 
onslaught, it was a word of gratitude that rose 
to my lips. '0 valiant friends,' I said, 'it was 
for us, it was for each one of us, it was for 
me, that you risked your lives and are now in 
pain. I am moved to tell you of my respect, 
of my thankfulness, to assure you that the whole 
nation knows how much she is in debt to you.' 

"For, in truth, our soldiers are all saviours. 
A first time, at Liege, they saved France; a 
second time, in Flanders, they arrested the ad- 
vance of the enemy upon Calais. France and 



372 The Spell of Belgium 

England know it, and Belgium stands before 
the entire world a nation of heroes. 

" Never before in my life did I feel so proud 
to be a Belgian as when, on the platform of 
French stations, and halting awhile in Paris, 
and visiting London, I witnessed the enthusi- 
astic admiration our Allies feel for the heroism 
of our army. . . . 

"I have traversed the greater part of the dis- 
tricts most terribly devastated in my diocese, 
and the ruins I beheld and the ashes, were more 
dreadful than I, prepared by the saddest of 
forebodings, could have imagined. 

" Other parts of my diocese, which I have not 
had time to visit, have in a like manner, been 
laid waste. Churches, schools, asylums, hos- 
pitals, convents in great numbers are in ruins. 
Entire villages have all but disappeared. At 
Werchter Wackerzeel, for instance, out of three 
hundred and eighty homes one hundred and 
thirty remain. At Tremeloo, two-thirds of the 
village is overthrown. At Beuken, out of one 
hundred houses twenty are standing. At Schaf- 
fen, one hundred and eighty-nine houses out of 
two hundred are destroyed; eleven still stand. 
At Louvain, a third of the buildings are down, 
one thousand and seventy- four dwellings have 
disappeared, On the town land and in the sub- 



A Last Word 373 

urbs, one thousand six hundred and twenty- 
three houses have been burned. 

"In this dear city of Louvain, perpetually in 
my thoughts, the magnificent church of St. 
Peter will never recover its former splendour. 
The ancient college of St. Ives, the art schools, 
the consular and commercial schools of the Uni- 
versity, the old markets, our rich library with 
its collections, its unique and unpublished manu- 
scripts, its archives, its gallery of great por- 
traits of illustrious rectors, chancellors, profes- 
sors, dating from the time of its foundation, 
which preserved for its masters and students 
alike a noble tradition, and was an incitement 
to their studies — all this accumulation of intel- 
lectual, of historic and artistic riches, the fruit 
of the labour of five centuries — all is in the 
dust. . . . 

"Thousands of Belgian citizens have been de- 
ported to the prisons of Germany, to Munster- 
lagen, to Celle, to Magdeburg. At Munster- 
lagen alone, three thousand one hundred civil 
prisoners were numbered. History will tell of 
the physical and mental torments of their long 
martyrdom. 

"Hundreds of innocent men were shot. I 
possess no complete necrology ; but I know there 
were ninety-one shot at Aerschot and that there, 



374 The Spell of Belgium 

under pain of death, their fellow citizens were 
compelled to dig their graves. In the Louvain 
group of communes one hundred and seventy- 
six persons, men and women, old men and suck- 
lings, rich and poor, in health and sickness, were 
shot or burned. . . . 

"We can neither number our dead nor com- 
pute the measure of our ruins. And what would 
it be if we turned our sad steps toward Liege, 
Namur, Audennes, Dinant, Tamines, Charleroi, 
and elsewhere? Families hitherto living at 
ease, now in bitter want ; all commerce at an end, 
all careers ruined, industry at a standstill ; thou- 
sands upon thousands of working men without 
employment; working men, shop girls, humble 
servants, without means of earning their bread, 
and poor souls forlorn on the bed of sickness 
and fever, crying, ' Lord, how long, how long? ' 

"Thirteen ecclesiastics have been shot in the 
diocese of Malines. There were, to my own 
actual personal knowledge, more than thirty in 
the diocese of Namur, Tournai, and Liege. . . . 

"On the 19th of April, 1839, a treaty was 
signed in London by King Leopold, in the name 
of Belgium, on the one part, and by the Emperor 
of Austria, the King of France, the Queen of 
England, the King of Prussia, and the Emperor 
of Eussia on the other; and its seventh article 



A Last Word 375 

decreed that Belgium should form a separate 
and perpetually neutral state, and should be 
held to the observance of this neutrality in re- 
gard to all other states. The co-signers prom- 
ised, for themselves and their successors, upon 
their oath, to fulfil and observe that treaty in 
every point and every article without contra- 
vention or tolerance of contravention. Belgium 
was thus bound in honour to defend her own 
independence. She kept her oath. The other 
Powers were bound to respect and to protect 
her neutrality. Germany violated her oath, 
England kept hers. . . . 

"Accept, my dearest brethren, my wishes and 
prayers for you and for the happiness of your 
families, and receive, I pray you, my paternal 
benediction. 

"D. J. Cardinal Mercier, 
"Archbishop of Malines." 

Here is a letter from a soldier at the front 
to his parents : 

"Tirlemont, 8 August, 1914. 
"My dear Parents : 

"Here I am at Tirlemont, where we are oc- 
cupied in reforming our scattered regiment! 
Many are killed and injured, some are taken, 
others lost. It is a terrible mix-up, and it will 



376 The Spell of Belgium 

take a long time to get it straightened out, and 
I am profiting by this moment to write you and 
let you know what has happened in the last few 
days. 

4 'We had been fighting all clay "Wednesday, 
and when evening came on we were told to dis- 
lodge a troop that occupied the space between 
the two forts. They gave us the message very 
simply: 'It is death, but it must be done/ 
Nothing more. We were under fire all night, 
We kill without seeing any one. The bullets 
whistle, a shrapnel explodes five meters from us, 
we have several killed, and we stay under this 
rain of bullets and it is awful. 

"I could not tell you my impressions. I re- 
cited about one hundred vows ; I wondered what 
it felt like to be in heaven, because I was cer- 
tain that every moment would be my last. 

"The Germans advanced more and more, and 
we retreated, surrounded on all sides, and at 
four in the morning out of one hundred and 
sixty in our company only seventeen remained ; 
all are not dead; there are injured and pris- 
oners. We shall return under fire if this keeps 
up. I will take my part in it ; I am ready and 
prepared, and know that if I die I shall do 
so with confidence. Do not think that it is 
with despair that I shall die; it is with the ut- 



A Last Word 377 

most resignation. Do not cry or be sad. I re- 
sign myself to my fate, and I ask you to take 
things in this way also. Adieu, with all my 
heart. It is perhaps only for a short while, and 
I shall wait for you above. Much love to the 
family. I am in good health but very tired. 
Thousands of affectionate kisses. I have had 
my photograph taken and they will send you the 
proof. For my part, I take care to keep your 
photographs on me, and every day, after look- 
ing at them, it gives me fresh courage. Adieu. ' ' 

I give next a letter from the Mother Superior 
of a convent at Liege, written the night after 
Liege had been attacked : 

"In the morning the sound of cannon again 
shook the chapel. 

"The sisters were told to go and get their 
bundles, and in five minutes to be at the gate, 
where they would each receive five francs and 
their papers, and then they were told to run to 
the station. They did, through the rain, and 
to the accompaniment of the whistle and whine 
of German bullets. The Germans were on the 
heights, and were approaching every minute. 
The younger sisters helped those who were ill 
or old. Arriving near the station two sick ones 
were obliged to go to bed in another convent, 



378 The Spell of Belgium 

and the others installed themselves in the cellars 
and small hallways. An immense explosion oc- 
curred — it was only a bridge they were blowing 
up, but the garden was filled with broken pieces 
of iron and steel. Eighteen sisters got into a 
train filled with wounded and arrived at Brus- 
sels at midnight, nearly dead from fright. 

"They went up the Boulevard Botanique, 
where they found an ambulance wagon, which 
took them to the Mother's house. The General 
Superior came to open the door for them, with 
her white apron and her arm band of the Red 
Cross. They slept in beds prepared for the 
wounded, and the next day they were sent to 
different institutions. 

"People knew nothing but false news, given 
out by the Germans. We had no news for three 
weeks, so I didn't even know a new Pope had 
been elected." 1 

This letter is from a Belgian nun : 

August. 
"My sister Catherine, not being able to get 
away from Brieux, was obliged to stay there 

i The young English lady who took this letter to JRoehampton 
was made a prisoner, from nine in the morning until four in 
the afternoon. Although she had to show the letter, the Ger- 
man officials let her go, as it was unimportant, but her hus- 
band was taken prisoner. They asked him his age, and told 
him that they needed soldiers, and that he might be of use 
to them. 



A Last Word 379 

thirteen days, and it was the priest that brought 
her back to Bosel in tram and cart. He will 
go back there and show the soldiers the retreat. 
The Reverend Father von Volkson stayed in 
Malines till the last, and quietly kept on reciting 
his mass while they were bombarding the city. 
He was in civilian dress: but we don't know 
where he is now. Have you heard that the 
Eeverend Mother of Tournai had her arm lacer- 
ated by a bullet, which then went and hit Mother 

de B , who was standing behind her, in the 

region of the heart, and both of them died, hit 
by the same bullet? They were going into the 
loft to see from which direction the Germans 
were advancing to take possession of the city. 

1 ' It is a just war, for God and country. It is 
this that gives the King and our soldiers super- 
human strength. As soon as it was known that 
Germany was going to insult Belgium, thou- 
sands of men offered themselves to fight, and 
the priests accompanied these brave men to give 
them spiritual help and encouragement. ' ' 

"Ostend — end of October. 
" During the week of the 31st of October the 
Belgians resisted the attacks of the enemy, and 
the King had the dangerous honour of com- 
manding the Allies ' left wing while they put 



380 The Spell of Belgium 

up a terrific fight to defend Calais, which was 
the principal prize of this terrific struggle. For 
six days our Belgians stood the fire of 250,000 
Germans, who were afterwards reinforced by 
100,000 others. With these forces the enemy 
had to pass the Yser, which was filled with 
bodies. Although the fight seemed ended, 'the 
Belgians' — to quote Caesar — ' continued to dis- 
pute the mastery of the last parcel of their ter- 
ritory. With a rage bordering on grief they 
thought they would have to capitulate immedi- 
ately. ' The Belgians lost 10,000 men. They 
attacked again, and the enemy was forced to 
repass the Yser red with blood, and they were 
chased ten miles towards the north. 

4 'But still, though we have lost so many, we 
have not lost courage. In the midst of our 
ruined cities and our burnt and ruined crops, 
higher than our burnt towers, higher than the 
cruel deeds, stands our hope, and higher than 
the ignominy our proud independence, our love 
for the King and our land. Not for one in- 
stant has the Belgian spirit regretted the call 
of honour that has caused us such calamities, 
and tomorrow she would still refuse, even at 
the same price and at the cost of the same 
martyrdom ! 

"Sir Edward Grey saluted the Comte de 



A Last Word 381 

Lalaing (Minister Plenipotentiary at London) 
with the title of Ambassador, of which Belgium 
is worthy. 

"If you could only hear our injured and 
wounded speak of the King. When an officer 
fell the King took his place, crying out, 'Come, 
my children, shoot now, like this, all together.' 
And you should see how they killed their ene- 
mies ! Today is the fete-day of our poor little 
Queen; what an anniversary! At the Palace 
Hotel they give the wounded wine in her honour, 
and they sing the 'Brabangonne,' and 'Vers 
PAvenir.' " 

I give two verses of the " Brabangonne -' : — 

"Fled the years of servile shame, 

Belgium, 'tis thine hour at last, 
"Wear again thy ancient name, 

Spread thy banner on the blast. 
Sovereign people, in thy might 

Steadfast yet and valiant be, 
On thy ancient standard write — 

Land and Law and Liberty! 

"Belgium, Mother, hear us vow, 

Never will our love abate, 
Thou our hope, our refuge thou, 

Hearts and blood are consecrate. 
Grave, we pray, upon thy shield 

This device eternally, 
Weal or woe, at home, a-field, 

Land and law and liberty." 



382 The Spell of Belgium 

From Countess : 

' ' Brussels — October. 

"Food is easy to get if not plentiful and the 
bread eatable in Brussels. V. got out of Bel- 
gium this time without being caught. We are 
full of hope. We are well and busy. Every 
one is trying to help those in need. There is 
much to do. Those who still remain here see 
each other often. We meet at each other's 
houses for tea and bring information. A. was 
wounded in the head and has been taken 
prisoner. Mr. Whitlock's untiring devotion to 
his work is more than appreciated by every 
class. He is just the man for the place. The 
Spanish Minister is a great help. We have had 
no letter since August. I knit madly to keep 
calm. I hope the day may come when I may 
say all that is in my heart. It is a suffocating 
feeling to have a foreign occupation. We have 
such a time getting the papers. One sheet ap- 
pears a day, and all we want to know is care- 
fully left out by the Germans. \ ' 



In October there comes a moan from Luxem- 
bourg. 



A Last Word 383 

i ' LUXEMBOURG. 

"We are crying for flour. Nothing sent 
from America can reach Luxembourg. The 
railways are destroyed by dynamite, toutes 
les routes ravagees; not one way of communi- 
cation at present. The rich as well as the 
poor are dying of hunger and cold. All the 
horrors of our enemies are, alas! quite true. 
We are ruined, our money gone, the villa burnt. 
Tears are dropping on the letter as I 
write. This letter which may never reach 
you." 

"October. 
"My good Mother, 

"I have thought of you very often since it 
has pleased God to visit upon us the horrors of 
war. What damages have been caused by the 
Germans in our country ! At Dinant Mr. Was- 
sege has been shot with his two sons because he 
did not want to open the safe of the bank 
or give the combination. Seventy-five other 
civilians had the same fate, also hundreds of 
little children. The horrors the Germans have 
committed here are fit for Turks or savages ; I 
could state hundreds of cases. In Antwerp two 
beautiful estates, which were situated near the 
forts, belonging to well-known German society 



384 The Spell of Belgium 

people, were found to have underground pas- 
sages leading to the fortresses. By chance, 
barrels were found containing German uni- 
forms for those we have received with so much 
kindness, to put on when the German soldiers 
occupy the city, as was seen in Verviers. In 
several houses in Antwerp wireless plants were 
discovered. In Antwerp hundreds of spies 
were found, who dressed in all manner of cloth- 
ing, as nuns, priests, and nurses. 

' ' They are taking the civilians away to serve 
as soldiers in the German army, or to gather 
their crops. In Namur they have started to 
write down the births, deaths, and marriages, 
and the people must take German names, or be 
shot. 

' ' Eight thousarfd people fleeing from Louvain 
were forced to march a great distance by the 
Germans, eight in a line, and they had to keep 
their hands in the air all the time. They had 

to fasten Helen P 's baby on her back — she is 

the niece of Mother V. E so that she could 

walk in this way. Our soldiers often have Com- 
munion, and are full of courage and confidence. 
They love the King, who shows himself full of 
courage. He marches at the head of his troops, 
and after a battle shakes hands with the sol- 
diers; we can be proud of him. 



A Last Word 385 

"A magistrate on his way back to Brussels 
was given a letter to deliver. He told a friend 
on the train he had the letter on his person, but 
did not know where to hide it. His friend said 
he was doing a very dangerous thing, for if 
the letter was found on him he would be shot. 
He also said: 'You must read it, then tear it 
up, and transmit the news orally.' This he 
did. Later the train was surrounded by Ger- 
mans, who announced that no one was to de- 
scend, and that it was forbidden to carry letters, 
and in consequence every one was going to be 
searched. Terrible fright! Of the people 
carrying letters, one managed to eat his, when 
he found that it could not be hidden and he was 
not able to throw it away. . . . The magistrate 
presented himself at six-thirty at the proper 
place, and recited the contents of the letter and 
told the story of his trip. ' ' 

' ' London — November. 
"As for the Belgian refugees, it is getting to 
be a great problem what to do with them. 
There are thousands and thousands like droves 
of frightened sheep, not a particle of clothing 
but what they stand up in, and not a penny in 
the world. You just cannot realize it unless 
you see them. Ladies and gentlemen of fine 



386 The Spell of Belgium 

position and peasants all together, and all help- 
less and homeless. 

"It seems so horrible to think that our only 
thought is to kill, and that we rejoice when 
the enemy has lost men. I hardly dare think 
of it. It seems as though we had all gone 
mad. 

"The King Albert Hospital is working well, 
and three more Belgian hospitals have had to 
be opened. They now all work under military 
authority, and so they do not need our assist- 
ance any more, I mean, in the way of our being 
there daily. 

"Mrs. B and I have now put our hearts 

and energies into a Maternity Home for Bel- 
gians, that is, we have two, one for ladies and 
one for working women. They are both such 
sweet, pretty homes, that it really must help 
them to forget the cruelties of being far from 
their husbands and homes. They nearly all call 
their sons Albert, and the daughters either 
Elizabeth or Alberta. 

"The streets and shops are filled with Bel- 
gians, one hears French in busses, everywhere 
in fact. One often hears Flemish too. I was 
surprised when I first heard it, for it sounded 
so like German. L'Echo Beige, a Flemish 



A Last Word 387 

paper published in London, has on the first 
page: 'Voor God en Vaderland' — 'Pour 
Dieu et Patrie.' A great many papers are 
published here for the Belgians and French. 
There are innumerable appeals, many for Bel- 
gium, such as: Belgian Belief Fund, the 
Belgian Soldiers Fund, and so forth. 

"Limericks are very common among the sol- 
diers and are very good. Here is one about a 
Belgian girl. Please remember that Ypres is 
called Wipers by Tommy Atkins. 

"There was a young lady of Ypres, 
Who was hit in the cheek by two snipers, 
The tunes that she played 
Through the holes that they made, 
Beat the Argyle and Sutherland pipers." 

"The shop windows are full of war games, 
such as: < Storming the Citadel '— < Kill Kiel' 
— and the 'Dreadnaught game.' 

"Tommy gives the bombs such amusing 
names, ' Black Marias/ ' Aunt Sally's Nephews,' 
and ' Eagle Eggs.' The German trench mo- 
tor is called 'The Undertaker. ' The anti-air- 
craft gun is nicknamed ' Archibald ' and the Ger- 
man howitzer which emits a thick white smoke 
is called ' The Woolly Bear. ' He calls these pic- 
turesque names 'Slanguage/ " 



388 The Spell of Belgium 

' ' Brussels — November. 

"We are passing horrible hours. You can- 
not imagine what it has been the last three 
months. Everywhere misery, crepe and ruin. 
To add to the horror of the situation, famine 
has arrived. Most of our friends have had 
their chateaux pillaged. The buildings even 
are often destroyed. Our friends arrive in the 
night on foot, with all that they own on their 
backs and their children following them. They 
often walk miles before finding a roof to shelter 
them, for many villages are burnt to the ground, 
deserted, and many of the people shot. C'est 
ajfreux! 

"Henri has won two galons for his bravery 
in battle. The last news we have of him is 
good. Dieu merci. Jean has been slightly 
wounded. What a relief to have him safe for 
the moment in a hospital. George de Ligne, 
Henri d'Oultremont, tues, Guy Keyn terns 
blesse. Two of the Cornet Counts have been 
taken from their chateau, which was burned, 
and no one knows what has become of them. 
Every day the Germans are more brutal and 
more hateful. They are worse than they are 
depicted. 

"We are indeed grateful to the American 



A Last Word 389 

Minister. He is intelligent, active and kind, 
as well as a charming man. 

"It is difficult to get the food distributed in 
the villages, for there are no means of con- 
veyance, except motors run by twenty-four 
young Americans. They are doing fine work 
and are a great help. The d'Assches, de 
Merodes, Beeckmans and de Beughems are 
here.'' 

A letter from Switzerland reads: 

' ' November. 
"I have been at a camp of French and Bel- 
gian soldiers in Germany, nearly fifteen thou- 
sand of them, all without blankets. They dig 
holes in the ground and get into them, and then 
spread their coats over the top in order to sleep 
and keep warm. ' ' 

A letter from a cousin at a hospital in France 
says, "Today seventy French soldiers were 
brought in, all with their right hands gone." 

"Bkussels — end of December. 
"The weather is awful, the fighting in the 
North has been again very violent. We have 
little wool to knit with. We need flannel too 
for the soldiers. It is freezing. We are try- 
ing to get warm clothes to the soldiers. We are 



390 The Spell of Belgium 

having a snowstorm such as has not been seen 
for twenty years, in fact one might be in Amer- 
ica. The snow has lasted five days. Every- 
thing is all frozen and one slips and the trams 
are all crowded. Hospital things are particu- 
larly necessary. 

"My husband asked a German, an old friend 
of his, if it was possible for me to take clothes 
to the English prisoners here. He was refused. 
No one has been able to help the poor English, 
and God only knows how they are being treated 
by these brutes. We have been able to help 
the French prisoners. ,, 

"February. 

"I saw at Ostend an old woman of ninety, 
who had walked from Waterloo. I do not like 
to write much, as it is safer not to do so. The 
money that was sent will go at once to a woman 
with five children, whose husband was wounded. 
I have been taking care of him at the hospital. 
He is well again and leaves today for the front. 
The wounded try to get well as quickly as pos- 
sible, as they want to return to the front. 

"My villa a Dumber gen pres de Heyst sur 
mer is occupied by the Germans. My maid 
was left in charge. The Germans ordered her 
to give them our clothes. I hear my house is a 



A Last Word 391 

house de debauche et d'orgie. La jemme de 
chambre a ete molestee par un soldat ivre. 
When the old gardener and his wife tried to in- 
terfere, the soldiers said if they did, they would 
shoot them. Oh, when will this cease and the 
world know the truth? Cette abominable race! 
My heart is broken. ' ' 

"The Hague, Feb. 22, 1915. 

"My uncle and aunt are in Anjoux. Think 
of the life they lead, constantly struggling 
against all sorts of plunder, the worst elements 
of the population now having free play. An- 
archy is uppermost in many places. . . . They 
have no respect for anything. What ruin on all 
sides, and to think that our poor little country 
was always so hospitable to those Germans ! 

"As to the Eoyal family: I know the Queen 
never leaves La Panne (the last Belgian village) . 
Every day she is with the wounded and goes 
very near the trenches. She is admirable in 
her courage and strength, and I know she suf- 
fers terribly from the conduct of her compatriots 
(she is Bavarian), but in justice I must say that 
the Bavarians have everywhere behaved better 
than the others. The Prussians have been ter- 
rible. The old Princesse de Ligne, widow of 
Prince Edward, who is the Mother of the Coun- 



392 The Spell of Belgium 

cillor of our Legation here in The Hague, ar- 
rived here in October. She stayed one month 
and a half at the Chateau de la Neuville, near 
Liege, and under German dominion. Although 
speaking German perfectly, as she is Austrian 
by birth, she had a great deal to suffer. A Ger- 
man colonel with his revolver in his hand fol- 
lowed her all over the house and made her show 
him everything. (The same thing happened to 
the Comtesse de Merode at the Chateau de 
Waterloo ; everything was opened, searched, and 
in part plundered.) The Princesse de Ligne re- 
plied to one officer that a certain old salver of 
repousse silver was not for sale, when he wished 
to buy it. The next day that and other pieces 
of silver were gone. At Conjoux they passed 
days of anguish during the burning of Dinant. 
There was a battle in the wood back of the little 
house where we had so often had tea. 

"The plundering of Dinant was most terrible, 
and what has been told of the horrors of that 
time is not at all exaggerated. Up to the present 
time they have exhumed 981 bodies of civilians, 
of which one hundred are children between three 
months and ten years. All this is official. 
There have, of course, been exaggerations, but 
how many horrors are still unknown! 

* ' There were just such massacres at Audennes, 



A Last Word 393 

Vise, Louvain, Aerschot and Termonde, not 
to speak of the smaller villages, and J. told me 
when he passed through here to join the army 
that in going through Dinant between Aisny 
and Philippeville there was not one village that 
had not been completely destroyed. At Lieg- 
non (the station where one leaves the train in 
going to Conjoux) they imprisoned 900 peasants 
in a church for seventeen days. No one was 
allowed to go in. Two women were confined and 
were unable to have a doctor. The cure of 
Lorinnes, near Conjoux, had his lungs pulled out 
on each side with the hooks that are used for the 
tires of motor cars. I could go on telling you of 
just such incidents for pages and pages. 

"The Chateau of Ardenne, which had become 
the property of the State through the gift of 
Leopold II, has been completely emptied. 
There is not one piece of furniture left, nor a 
frame, nor a picture; everything is gone, and 
this is the case in many chateaux. 

"At Ghent my family have suffered a great 
deal from the presence of the enemy in their 
homes. I have already told you of their install- 
ing the passport office in our grandfather's 
drawing room ; you remember the one where the 
picture hung and the chests that belonged to 
Marie Antoinette. You may imagine the filth, 



394 The Spell of Belgium 

and they insisted on putting in gas, saying it was 
so dark they could not see. It is true it was 
dark, but they had no right to ruin everything. 
It is curious that our grandfather still has 
papers giving an account of the Cossacks ' so- 
journ in 1814. In the very same house, a Rus- 
sian colonel was lodger. According to these 
papers, there were far fewer injuries and com- 
plaints than in 1914 against the Germans. At 
Laeken, in the royal chateau, the Germans held 
a veritable orgy and ruined everything; such 
dirt; and horrors so ignoble that I dare not 
describe it further. The fact is that everything 
in that beautiful chateau is in a deplorable con- 
dition. 

"The Germans hope to demoralize us by cir- 
culating false reports. Every day despatches 
from the Kaiser announcing their victories are 
posted on the walls of the towns; this also to 
encourage their troops. The soldiers arriving 
in Ghent think they are within a few miles of 
London. The people have naturally taken a 
mischievous delight in undeceiving them and 
telling them they were by no means near London, 
but near the Yser. They actually wept, for the 
Yser is their nightmare, and with reason. That 
is easily understood. They do not advance; 
quite the contrary. 




CROWN PRINCE LEOPOLD, DUC DE BRABANT. 



A Last Word 395 

"The King and Queen are still at La Panne. 
Little Prince Leopold, thirteen years old, is 
with them now. The other day all three on 
horseback reviewed the new recruits on the 
beach ; all the time the German aeroplanes were 
throwing bombs. 

"We have a new army of 200,000 men, and it 
increases every day. The spirit of the troops is 
excellent. The other day the Queen went with 
little Prince Leopold as far as the second line of 
trenches to see the soldiers. It was near Nieu- 
port. She sat down amongst them, and after 
she left the soldiers made a little sanctuary of 
the spot where she had sat. Our sovereigns are 
adored by their troops, and they well deserve it. 
Nothing matters to them — neither suffering, 
fatigue, danger nor money, for they are won- 
derfully generous. Nearly all the Belief Soci- 
eties for Eefugees in Belgium, here in Holland, 
in England, and in France have had gifts from 
them, and in some cases they have been con- 
siderable. It is thought now that the barbarity 
of the Germans and their cruelty has ceased 
since they have been stopped at the Yser, but this 
is not so. Naturally massacres are less system- 
atic than during the first three months of the 
war, but there are constantly peasants and civil- 
ians shot and priests sent to Germany. At 



396 The Spell of Belgium 

Cortemarch (near Roulers) they sent the cure 
and the vicar to Germany because they accused 
the village of having had a spy. This they 
posted themselves in all the Flemish towns. 
The number of people who have had to pay ran- 
som for one or another soi-disant reason is 
countless. Our cousin, living at Wielt, has been 
imprisoned and forced to pay one thousand 
marks fine for daring to lift his voice feebly 
against the requisitions, without even payment 
by note, that were levied on the farmers. 

"The Germans have now forbidden disinter- 
ment of the bodies, as the proof of their cruelty 
was too obvious. At the time of the flight of 
our poor population here the little children, see- 
ing the Dutch soldiers dressed in gray, took them 
for Germans, and lifted up their little arms as 
these latter had obliged them to do. There are 
still in Holland 250,000 poor refugees. They 
are nearly all settled in camps of wood which in 
the beginning were very bad, but are improving 
now every day. After the taking of Antwerp 
there were one million here for one or two 
months. 

"My brothers are well, thank God. — Pray. — 
Let us pray together if you will, for all. God 
will hear us and will give us the joy of acclaim- 
ing our King in Brussels when he reenters at 



A Last Word 397 

the head of his army. It is the goal and dream 
of all the Belgians. It will be a day of wild and 
mad delirium. It gives me the shivers even to 
dream of it. ' ' 

From the son of Dr. Depage to his mother 
while she was lecturing in America : — 

"April. 

"La Panne * has changed a great deal these 
last few weeks. The tourist that would come 
here would think himself in an exhibition, just 
before opening day. 

"On all sides one sees tents that spring from 
the ground. The floors would make fine skating 
rinks when the war is over. 

"Truly the medical career is full of surprises, 
and I sometimes ask myself if my father, who as 
a youngster poached in the Foret de Soignes, 
ever thought or even dreamed that he would one 
day be not only a great doctor, but a superior 
officer in the Belgian army. 

' i Life is a strange thing, Mother dearie, but I 
think that it can be very beautiful, if one under- 
stands it, — and also very sad. 

"As to the war, the wounded are taking the 
illusion from us that we are having a vacation 
at the seaside. 

iThe Belgian army retired from Antwerp to La Panne. 



398 The Spell of Belgium 

"The weather has been so beautiful since the 
first day of spring that one is sometimes sur- 
prised not to see parasols of flaming colours, and 
the silhouettes of pretty women walking on the 
beach, or to see happy children building forts, 
which the incoming tide soon destroys. Alas! 
are we not all big children, we Belgians, that re- 
sist the incoming tide, and our forts no better 
or stronger? But I think the tide is high now, 
and soon it will go down. 

"As to Y. P I think that we must give up 

all hope of seeing him again. "We thought for a 
while he was a prisoner, but though we tried to 
find him we could not. And then, he would have 
let his mother have news from him, don't you 
think?— since the 22d of October. 

"We must not think of him now, we must re- 
main courageous and keep on hoping. 

"After the war, it will be time to count the 
spaces in our ranks, and I fear there will be 
many. My comrade was killed in our first 
bayonet charge. (You know we fight as much 
as possible in pairs.) I was about to kill a Ger- 
man when the man begged so pleadingly for 
his life, saying he had a wife and children, 
that I faltered for a moment — in that mo- 
ment he half turned and quickly killed my com- 
rade.' ' 



A Last Word 399 

"Brussels — end of April. 

"Everybody here deprives himself to help the 
more unfortunate. Thanks to America the 
famine has been averted. The American Minis- 
ter is adored and blessed by all. He is so simple 
and modest that he doesn't like manifestations 
of thanks, but after the war we hope to show 
our appreciation. The d'Assches, Woelmonts, 
Pierre van der Straten and other faithful ones 
remain here until the day of deliverance. The 
Germans, after they have massacred and pil- 
laged, now remain more quiet. They are 
ashamed, with reason, of their infamous doings, 
and I think the cruelties are past. But how does 
one know with barbarians ! We are waiting for 
the Eoumanians and the Greeks, and the Italians 
to enter on our side. The whole world wants to 
get all and risk nothing. I am writing to ask 
you if the singers in New York will not be able 
to organize something for the benefit of their 
dear brothers and sisters here. No music is 
possible. Professors and artists die from 
hunger. . . . 

"I want to tell you that my little Marie is go- 
ing to make her first communion privately. It 
is a sweet consolation for me to prepare her. 
She is so simple and religious that I believe her 
prayers must be acceptable to the Lord. She is 



400 The Spell of Belgium 

very young, only just seven; but as you know, 
Pope Pius Tenth wished that children should 
take their first communion at that age. In these 
grave days we wanted her to receive this great 
favour that she may unite her innocent prayers 
with ours in order that the Lord may hear us the 
better.' ' 

"London, May 1, 1915. 



"It is very wearisome waiting to be sent to 
La Panne — but the shelling of Dunkirk does 
not bode well for our speedy departure. We 
simply have to wait from day to day, ready 
to start at short notice. The American Red 
Cross doctors and nurses — of the two new 
units, just arrived from America — are wait- 
ing also in London. The rules are stricter and 
stricter for leaving England. . . . No one may 
now leave for nursing without having been 
definitely engaged in a hospital over there. 
People are often turned back from Dover in 
spite of passports which are apparently per- 
fectly correct. 

"You see La Panne is at present under shell 
fire — the King and Queen have been headquar- 
tering there, an added reason for the Germans 
to try to demolish it. But I hear that just now 



A Last Word 401 

they have been too near La Panne to be able to 
get so short a range, and Dunkirk as you know 
has been the victim. Many hospitals there are 
being evacuated. ... In the meantime I have 
been rather enjoying some free time here in 
London. I was busy for a while getting my 
new uniforms for La Panne — and odds and 
ends necessary for the 'war zone.' The uni- 
form is of dark blue, and we wear caps with 
a long white veil behind. In order to get my 
certificate I had to take an oral medical ex- 
amination — in French — before five Belgian 
doctors. A very trying ordeal, for it was 
really a stiff examination, with questions which 
are asked of trained nurses in their third 
year. But I got through somehow, and am now 
the proud possessor of a certificate giving me 
'le droit de me mettre au service de la Croix 
Rouge de Belgique en qualite d'infirmiere' 
signed by all the doctors. 

"All the food for La Panne is sent out from 
London on Monday of each week by the Admir- 
alty boat. They send only once a week, as it is 
necessary for supplies to be watched and es- 
corted all the way — otherwise they get stolen. 
One day we saw a lot packed up all ready to 
start — some friends of Mother's have charge of 
the whole fund, and also of the refugee fund 



402 The Spell of Belgium 

which distributes food all over London and 
neighbourhood. They have been very nice to 
me, and offered me a job to drive a motor-van 
for them, carrying food to Belgian hostels and 
families. I went out with another girl once or 
twice, but have had no time yet to do anything 
regularly. . . . We are told that they are very 
much in need of ether at La Panne — and I want 
to send out some with the money which has been 
given me. But this last week or two nothing 
could be sent — fortunately there is a reserve sup- 
ply of food at La Panne and another in Dunkirk, 
so it has not mattered much. . . . Since I came 
from Paignton I have been staying at the Nurses ' 
Hostel in Francis Street, off Tottenham Court 
Road, with Nurse Walsh and Nurse Scott. It is 
very big and comfortable — and very cheap — well 
known all over the world. And nurses are pour- 
ing in almost daily from Canada and Australia. 
It is quite an experience staying there, and I 
slept in a cubicle the first three nights to see what 
it was like ! 

"One day we went to an exhibition by the 
Women's Signaling Corps. Women and girls 
are learning flag-signaling, and they are also 
to take up bicycle despatch-riding, telegraphy, 
etc. The idea is of course to free men for the 
front. Miss D , who is the chief officer of 



A Last Word 403 

the women police, and a remarkable woman, 
came to dinner with us last week. They have 
been enrolled with the aim of providing a body 
of trained women for the service of the pub- 
lic. 

"I inclose you a copy of a letter from Lieu- 
tenant X , who was in command of two com- 
panies of Gurkhas at the fight at Neuve Cha- 
pelle. It was written . to his family on his 
twenty-eighth birthday. ' ' 

The letter from Lieutenant X follows : 

< < March 15, 1915. 

"I ought to consider myself lucky to see an- 
other 15th of March, after the last five days. It 
has been absolute hell, but anyhow we won 
ground and killed more than we lost. The best 
way of telling you will be to quote my diary 
again. 

" March 9th we spent in billets very cold, 
frosty and snow showers. Marched off at 11.30 
p. m. for the Neuve Chapelle front, so we got no 
sleep that night. 

" March 10th. Arrived in a trench line at 
about 3 a. m. after a march full of checks, owing 
to the crowded roads. The action about to take 
place was not a small one, but one by a front of 
three divisions, of which we were the center one. 



404 The Spell of Belgium 

At 4.30 a. m. punctually, 480 guns opened fire 
and never I should think in history has there 
been such a bombardment. Our guns blazed 
away — the country behind was a mass of gun 
flashes — and in front of us a mass of smoke and 
shell bursts. There was not a second in which 
you could say, there is no gun firing — it was a 
continuous rattle and roar, and you could not 
hear yourself speak. We had to lie very low in 
our trench and there were several short bursts 
of our own shell going overhead ; in fact I picked 
up two shrapnel bullets on my right hand side, 
and the base of a fuse on my left hand side. 
According to arrangements, at 8 a. m. our guns 
increased their range, and our first attacking line 
advanced under the enemy's trenches. The first 
and second lines reached the enemy's trenches 
with very little loss comparatively, as the enemy 
were quite disorganized by our shelling. They 
passed over two lines of trenches and reached an 
old trench line dug in the early days of the war 
— called the Smith-Dorrien line — about 1,200 
yards beyond. I followed close behind, and 
Major B came last — we had about 96 casu- 
alties in the first advance. We all reached the 
Smith-Dorrien line with the Germans in full re- 
treat, our guns firing shrapnel on them. At this 
point we could have advanced still further, but 



A Last Word 405 

that for one thing our guns were still dropping 
shells just in front of us, and for another the 
division on our left had not advanced sufficiently 
to support us. My double company only got 
about thirty prisoners and two machine guns. 
We immediately started digging ourselves in 
against an expected counter-attack. Some snip- 
ers from a trench on our right troubled us for 
some time ; the regiment on our right had some- 
how advanced beyond the trench without killing 
its occupants. ... At dark another brigade 
passed through us and advanced towards a wood 
1,000 yards in front of us, and entrenched them- 
selves 250 yards in our front. Maxim and rifle 
fire was opened on them by the enemy from the 
edge of the wood, but they did not suffer very 
heavily. 

" March 11th. The entrenched line ahead of 
us was held all day. We got heavily shelled all 
day — the heaviest shells dropped behind, Jack 
Johnsons and Woolly Bears, while we had shrap- 
nel, bombs and nasty double-acting shells which 
burst first with white smoke, and fifty yards 
further on with black smoke. We also got a 
good share of a shell which gave out the most 

beastly-smelling gases. Major B was 

wounded in the head by a bomb which burst on 
our parapet within a foot of my head, blowing a 



406 The Spell of Belgium 

large hole in the parapet and covering me with 
earth. The explosion of it, so close, instead of 
deafening me seemed to clear a passage through 
my head from ear to ear, and I went through all 
the processes of death. It seemed to me I was a 
goner, and it was some seconds before I realized 
I was alive and unhurt. The brigade in our 
front was ordered to retire in the night, and we 
were told to hold their evacuated trench with 
pickets. I sent out a picket from my double 
company — they remained out until 5 a. m., when 
I was ordered to withdraw them. 

" March 12th. They had only just come in 
when the Germans were seen advancing, and a 
fearful fusillade of rifle fire from our trenches 
began. After a time the firing slackened and 
dawn came, when in front of us were lines of 
dead Germans. We counted about one hundred 
in our immediate front — there were lots more 
to right and left, and the trench just evacuated in 
our front was thick with them. We had some 
very useful pistols with us, which fire a big 
cartridge and light up the ground in front. I 
fired fifteen rounds with mine to enable my men 
to see to fire. Only a few live Germans re- 
mained in the trench to our front, and these a 
British regiment turned out in an attack at 1 
p. m. Their first line advanced through us, but 



A Last Word 407 

suffered rather heavily from fire from a trench 
to our left front. Their second line was about 
to advance, and the officer in command of it 
jumped up close by me and shouted ' Second 
line advance,' when he dropped, shot through 
the head. The third line never advanced. On 

our right the Gurkhas advanced to the front 

trench and suddenly white flags began to ap- 
pear, and after some difficulty we got our men 
to stop firing, and a few of the Gurkhas began 
sending prisoners back. In a moment both sides 
were standing up out of the trenches, on our side 
we were waving to the Germans to come in, and 
on their side they were waving flags and calling 
for us to go and fetch them — but this we could 
not do, as they continued to fire and we could 

not trust them. But the Gurkhas collected 

a lot on the right and more followed, many of 
them wounded, and came into our lines. About 
a hundred came like this, I should think. Many 
more would have liked to come from further to 
the left, but it was difficult to arrange, as they 
kept firing and at the same time did not trust us 
sufficiently to leave cover. However we got a 
fair bag. 

" March 13th. All to-day and yesterday too 
we had absolute hell from enemies' artillery. 
All day we lay flat against the front parapet in 



408 The Spell of Belgium 

fear and trembling — we were very crowded in 
our trench as a British regiment was there too, 
and such crowding added of course to the casual- 
ties. The shells dropped all round us — many 
dropped close in front and behind, putting the 
fear of God into us. All this time our artillery 
was firing too and the noise was terrific. The 
men behaved absolutely splendidly and did not 
move from their places. At 5 p. m. we got news 
that we were to be relieved — we were pleased 
and the men bucked up at once and started chat- 
tering away. We hoped to go out at dusk, but 
were disappointed, as a message came to say a 
German counter-attack was expected, and we 
must remain for the time being. However I got 
away about 8 p. m., and reported to the Colonel, 
who told me to march off to billets. Off I went 
with my men and myself, all as happy as could 
be, but I only got as far as our brigade head- 
quarters a mile away, when the General said, he 

was very sorry but the and Gurkhas 

had to stay in reserve to the brigade who had re- 
lieved us. This was a bit fat after five days and 
nights without any wink of sleep for any one ; for 
we had to work all night at improving our trench 
and repairing it where shells had damaged it, 
digging graves for killed, seeing to wounded go- 
ing back; and in the day it was impossible to 



A Last Word 409 

sleep for the noise, and casualties occurring now 
and then, and the fear of a German attack. How- 
ever there was nothing for it, so I explained the 
situation to my men, who I must say took it very 
well. I almost cried for pity at their disap- 
pointment, for they were all dead tired : in fact 
none of us could walk in a straight line, and they 
were looking forward to a good sleep and some 
decent food again. However they turned and 
marched forward again, but no sooner had I ar- 
rived than a staff officer of the other brigade 

came and said the and Gurkhas were 

no longer required — so about turn again and 
back we went at a snail's pace. I halted at one 
place for water, as the men had been rather short 
of water the whole time, and I gave them an 
hour's sleep by the roadside at another point. 

" March 14th. It was about four miles to our 
billets and we got in just at dawn — our billets are 

near to L . After some food they started to 

get some rest, but at 12 noon we had to change to 
another house half a mile away. Poor fellows, 
they have had a time, but the whole regiment has 
behaved splendidly and they are as cheerful as 
ever. Many acts of individual bravery were per- 
formed. During the attack there was a house 
full of Germans, but the difficulty was to get them 
out. One of our fellows went in and called upon 



410 The Spell of Belgium 

all of them to surrender — and lie brought 
out nine of them. On another occasion some 
of our men had to bring up ammunition along a 
nullah which was swept by machine-gun fire. 
One of the men was wounded, but another com- 
ing up behind stopped, put down the ammunition 
box he was carrying and dressed the wound, re- 
maining under fire till he was killed. A Jack 
Johnson burst near one of our machine guns and 
buried every man except one, who was only 
buried up to the waist. He got out and dug out 
the others, and all were saved. Poor Major 

F was shot through the head during the 

German counter-attack and killed. In my own 

double company I had Major D wounded, 

30 men wounded, and 9 killed. Our regimental 
casualties were 1 British officer killed, 2 Gurkha 
officers killed, and 39 rank and file killed, 3 

British officers (Major B , Major T and 

Captain S ) wounded, not seriously; 2 

Gurkha officers and 170 rank and file wounded, 
35 missing, probably killed or wounded. Losses 
in the other four regiments in the brigade were 
much the same. A great many of the Germans 
against us were found to have bullets on them 
with the tips snicked off with cutters, making 
them act like dum-dum bullets — in fact three 
were shot for this on the spot. Several of 



A Last Word 411 

our wounded showed dum-dum wounds. . . . 
"You noticed perhaps that Sir John French's 
despatches, after the recent fighting, thanked the 
Worcesters 'a second time' — and everybody 
does not know that the first time was at Mons. 
Towards the end of that battle, Sir Douglas Haig 
came and said he thought they couldn't pos- 
sibly hold on any longer. General French 
agreed reluctantly, and gave the order for a 
general retreat. But immediately Sir Douglas 

Haig came back in haste to report that the 

Worcesters were still holding on, and the Gen- 
eral said, ' Then let us all hold on a little longer. ' 
The tide turned and the Germans retreated — 
and so it was that a plain little company of Wor- 
cesters saved Europe! Three separate times 
General French started to go and thank the Wor- 
cesters, and three times he had to turn back — 
he couldn't speak for the choke in his 
throat. ..." 



ni 

Amekican Relief Work 

At first there was some discussion as to the 
advisability of America's feeding the Belgians. 
International law told us that it was the duty 



412 The Spell of Belgium 

of the army occupying foreign territory to feed 
the civilian population. English soldiers felt 
that by importing foodstuffs into Belgium, 
America was helping the Germans. But Ger- 
many was unwilling to take upon herself this 
additional load, and some one had to do it. 
While the discussion was going on, seven mil- 
lion people were beginning to starve. "The 
hungry stomach knows no politics, and when a 
man is drowning, pull him out and not ascer- 
tain who threw him in." So America came to 
the rescue. 

After the destruction of Louvain a committee 
was formed in New York to collect funds for 
the Belgians, headed by Mr. de Forrest. His 
Excellency, Mr. Emmanuel Havenith, and His 
Eminence, Cardinal Gibbons, at once started a 
general movement, thinking that a compara- 
tively small sum would be needed. The Millers • 
Relief Committee, headed by Mr. Edgar in 
Minneapolis, was among the first to respond. 
My husband started the New England committee 
at that time. 

Later, Mr. Whitlock informed Mr. Page, our 
Ambassador in London, of the great devasta- 
tion in Belgium, as a result of which millions of 
people were on the verge of starvation. So a 
commission of Americans was formed in Eng- 



A Last Word 413 

land, headed by Mr. Hoover. They sent Mr. Lin- 
don W. Bates over here to organize committees 
throughout the United States. The British and 
Belgian governments promised to help, as well 
as the Spanish, and Germany gave permission 
for foodstuffs to be distributed to non-combat- 
ants in Belgium. The Spanish and American 
Ministers in Brussels, and their committees in 
other towns in Belgium, had charge of the dis- 
tribution. 1 

This Commission perfected a wonderful sys- 
tem of shipping and of giving out the supplies. 
Everything was issued from the principal and 
branch stations of the Commission in Belgium 
into the hands of the "Commission Nationale 
Comite de Secours," a well-organized Belgian 
association. 

The appeal to the governors of states and 
to the Rockefeller Foundation met with the most 
generous response. The American railways and 
express companies for a time gave free trans- 
portation, and then cooperated to ship at rea- 
sonable prices. The Rockefeller Foundation 
also undertook to furnish free ocean transporta- 
tion, and chartered the first ship that sailed 
from America with food for the Belgians, the 

1 1 am indebted to the official bulletin of the Commission for 
Relief in Belgium for much of the following material. 



414 The Spell of Belgium 

Maesapequa, which left here November 4th and 
reached Kotterdam the 18th. The Foundation 
also contributed foodstuffs. 

Throughout the winter everybody knitted 
madly. The unemployed were set to work at 
small pay making garments, and people literally 
took their clothes off their backs to send. Plays, 
concerts, lectures, moving picture shows and 
rummage sales took in money which was later 
turned into food. 

The way in which this food was put up was 
original and quite American. Boxes were filled 
with nourishing food suited to the needs of three 
classes of refugees — infants, convalescents, and 
adults. 

"A package for infants and young children 
should include thirty pounds of evaporated, un- 
sweetened milk; about two pounds of milk 
sugar, five pounds of barley flour, five pounds 
of cornmeal, five pounds of oatmeal, and two 
ounces of salt. This will sustain from two hun- 
dred to two hundred and fifty infants or young 
children for one day. 

"For packages for convalescents the follow- 
ing is recommended : Fifteen pounds of evapo- 
rated milk, fifteen pounds of malted milk; one 
pound can of olive or cottonseed oil ; two pounds 
of canned chicken, five pounds of brown rice, 



A Last Word 415 

seven pounds of whole wheat or white flour, 
three pounds of sugar, two pounds of tea, and 
six ounces of salt. It is estimated that this will 
sustain from one hundred to one hundred and 
fifty convalescents for one day. 

"A package for well adults should contain: 
Five pounds of canned baked beans, eight 
pounds of dried lentils, peas or beans, five 
pounds of canned salmon, five pounds of oat- 
meal, five pounds of cornmeal, fifteen pounds of 
whole wheat or white flour, two pounds of sugar 
and six ounces of salt. This will furnish a sus- 
taining ration for fifty adults for one day. ' ' 

"Not one mouthful has gone down a German 
throat yet, nor do I believe it ever will, ' ' wrote 
Mr. Hoover; "we have had nothing but help 
from the Germans in the distribution of Ameri- 
can foodstuffs in Belgium. Belgium raises less 
than forty per cent, of its own food. The war 
struck it in the midst of the harvest, and Bel- 
gium had made no provision to feed itself in time 
of trouble. The minimum monthly require- 
ments of the Belgian population are sixty thou- 
sand tons of grain, fifteen thousand tons of 
maize, three thousand tons of rice and peas, at 
a cost of four or five million dollars. ' ' 

There was no milk for thirty thousand babies 
at the end of November. The cows had all been 



416 The Spell of Belgium 

killed or taken by the Germans for the army. 
The starving mothers conld give little nour- 
ishment to their infants, and the supply of 
condensed milk was quickly used up. This pic- 
ture was brought by an American from Bel- 
gium: 

"I stood one morning by the back door of a 
German cook camp, watching a group of Bel- 
gian women grubbing through the trash heap 
piled up behind the camp. All these women 
carried babies. 'What are they doing?' I asked 
a German sergeant with whom I had struck up 
an acquaintance. ' Scraping our condensed milk 
cans/ he said. 'It is the only way to get milk 
for their babies. I have seen them run their 
fingers round a can which looked as bright as a 
new coin, and hold them into the babies ' mouths 
to suck." 

Six thousand meals a day were served in 
Brussels alone in the autumn. In some places 
one large baker's bun a day was all that was 
issued by the authorities; in other places, one 
bowl of cabbage soup. By April there were 
forty-seven soup kitchens in Brussels. 

A shipload of food meant one day's rations 
for the Belgians. When the first ship arrived 
at the Hook of Holland, the city of Rotterdam 
rejoiced. While the unpacking went on, 



A Last Word 417 

speeches were made and banquets held, and 
American national airs were played. The 
cargo of the ship was put into canal barges, 
which by German permission were allowed to 
make their way to the different towns. 

To show how quickly the food is distributed 
— in three hours sixty thousand people received 
bread. Three hundred and sixty sacks of 
American flour arriving at Verviers was dis- 
tributed in the form of bread the following 
morning. According to the system of the Com- 
mission, each person receives three cards. 
"One is kept at the office, the other two are 
given to the applicant. One of these he keeps 
and presents each day for his quota of rations, 
i. e., bread. The other he gives to his baker. 
With this card the baker makes application to 
the storehouse for the necessary flour to cover 
the demand of the bread card. The bread card 
calls for 325 grams of bread; the baker's card 
for 250 grams of flour. When there are not 
full rations to be had, the applicant gets the per- 
centage available. This applies to every one, 
rich and poor alike.' ' 

Thanks to the efficient work of the Commis- 
sion, fully seventy-five per cent, of the Belgians 
receiving food were able to pay for it. This was 
due to the clever financiering of Mr. Hoover 



418 The Spell of Belgium 

and his committee, who managed, by an ingen- 
ious method, to raise the depreciated paper cur- 
rency to par value. 

Putting gift and purchase cargoes together 
there were delivered in a single month, ' i twenty- 
five thousand tons of wheat, thirty thousand 
tons of flour, eleven thousand tons of maize, fif- 
teen hundred tons of rice, five hundred and 
forty-six tons of peas, four thousand tons of 
beans, one hundred and seven tons of potatoes, 
one hundred and twelve tons of salt, with 
thirty-six hundred tons of sundries.' ' 

In the spring Antwerp and Brussels were 
feeding about two hundred and eighty thou- 
sand people twice a day. At least four million 
people are getting their food through the Na- 
tional Commission. Those who can pay for it 
do so. Food is given in the bread line to those 
who cannot pay. At first only workmen ap- 
peared in the line, then small shopkeepers, and 
later professional men. 

West of the road from Antwerp to Mons the 
people are being fed. East of the road the 
Germans did not permit it during the winter. 
In April, however, it was arranged that the 
Commission should also feed Northern France. 
In June General von Bissing permitted the Com- 
mission to furnish grain for seed, to be planted 



A Last Word 419 

and harvested by Belgian peasants for their own 
use. The report of the Commission for the 
first year of the war showed that for the peo- 
ple of Belgium and the 2,500,000 French people 
hemmed in behind the German battle front, an 
expenditure of $10,000,000 a month was re- 
quired. 

The despatch of a shipload of food every other 
day from America during the winter constituted 
the largest commissary that the world has ever 
seen. "The Fleet of Mercy is constantly mak- 
ing voyages. ' ' Every cent collected in America 
for the purchase of food was spent in America. 
It is said that up to May 1st the United States 
made gifts amounting to about six million dol- 
lars. The American Belief Commission today 
has branches not only in the United States, 
Canada and Holland, but also in London and 
Belgium and France. From sixteen American 
seaports food has been sent direct to Belgium. 
Forty-eight States, the District of Columbia and 
Hawaii, organized Belgian Belief Committees, 
and endless sub-committees. Thirty-seven of 
the States of the Union are represented by the 
women's section. 

Queen Elizabeth, now called the "Wandering 
Queen,' ' sent this letter to thank the women of 
this Commission: 



420 The Spell of Belgium 

"It gives me great pleasure to accept the in- 
vitation which has been transmitted to me to 
become a patroness of the Women's Section of 
the American Commission for Relief in Bel- 
gium. I wish to extend to the women of 
America the deep gratitude of the women of 
Belgium for the work which they are doing for 
my people. The food which your country is 
daily providing to our women and children 
comes like a ray of sunshine in the darkest hour 
in Belgium's history. The Belgian women 
have fought a brave fight, and are still fighting 
for the common cause of human liberty, so dear 
to every American woman's heart. 

"Elizabeth." 

By May 1st the New York Belgian Fund 
amounted to more than a million dollars. Cali- 
fornia raised over a hundred thousand in a day. 
Chicago has been conspicuous with large gifts. 
Kansas sent a great quantity of flour, and Mr. 
Wanamaker of Philadelphia shipped cargoes 
worth half a million dollars. 

The New England Committee believes that 
its results up to May first are substantially as 
follows: Cash collected, $300,000; value of 
goods collected, $100,000 ; money sent from New 
England direct to New York, $50,000 ; and goods 



A Last Word 421 

sent to New York, about $50,000. The Kermesse 
Flamande cleared $15,000, and Madame Van- 
dervelde 's meetings raised about $14,000 in Bos- 
ton alone. Three ship-loads of food and cloth- 
ing left Boston harbour. 

The Harpalyce was the first and largest of 
the ships. She sailed on January 7th, reaching 
Eotterdam the 23d. On April 10th, while on 
another voyage, she was torpedoed in the North 
Sea. She carried a crew of fifty-three men, 
twenty-six of whom were drowned, among them 
the captain, whom we knew personally. 

The work of Madame Vandervelde while she 
was in this country deserves special mention. 
She is an English woman, the wife of Emile 
Vandervelde, the leader of the Socialists in Bel- 
gium. He had several times been offered a 
place in the Cabinet but had refused. When the 
war broke out, however, feeling that he could 
be of real service to his country, he became one 
of the Ministers of State. He came with the 
Minister of Justice, Monsieur Carton de Wiart, 
an old friend of ours, and several others, as 
one of a commission sent to America in the 
autumn of 1914. Madame Vandervelde fol- 
lowed shortly to make a lecture tour in the 
United States. We found her a charming and 
well-educated woman, and a speaker of unusual 



422 The Spell of Belgium 

power. She came to this country in a spirit of 
splendid patriotism for the sake of helping Bel- 
gium. 

Before the food question became urgent, she 
asked for money to help the Belgian refugees 
return to their homes. But this did not seem 
wise, as we shall see from a report quoted be- 
low, so the money that she collected was turned 
into food. 

"For example, the towns Waelhem, Malines, 
Duffel, and Lierre, are reduced practically to 
ruins and are certainly not in a condition to 
receive back more than one-third of their or- 
dinary population. There is, moreover, a smell 
of decay in the air, which probably proceeds from 
corpses buried in the ruins, which may, at any 
time, breed a pestilence. To send people back 
to their homes when those homes no longer ex- 
ist, I believe to be cruel. Vise and Tamines 
and, I suppose, ten or a dozen other small towns 
in Belgium, are practically in the same condi- 
tion as those I visited, desolate and uninhabita- 
ble, half of their houses wrecked, many scat- 
tered and isolated farmhouses practically de- 
stroyed, and a considerable portion of the land 
under cultivation laid waste, either by military 
operations or by inundation for defense. 

' ' There is no work. The factories are closed 



A Last Word 423 

because they have no raw material, coal, or pe- 
trol, and because they have no markets. And 
yet war taxes are falling with hideous pressure 
upon a people whose hands are empty, whose 
workshops are closed, whose fields are idle, 
whose cattle have been taken.' ' 

In one of her lectures Madame Vandervelde 
said: "The sight of the poor refugees stream- 
ing into Antwerp from Louvain and Malines, 
women with babies in their arms, older children 
clinging to their skirts, men wheeling their de- 
crepit fathers in wheelbarrows or helping along 
a crippled brother or son, is more pitiful than 
any words can express.' ' 

From the reports in the daily papers, Madame 
Vandervelde said, one knows little of the over- 
whelming nature of the tragedy. She told 
many interesting stories of the land which had 
been ravaged by the horrors of war, and the 
murderous raids of the Zeppelins. 

Her mission was not a political one ; it was a 
plea for help. She arrived in September, bring- 
ing good letters of introduction. Wherever she 
spoke — in private houses on Long Island, at 
Beverly, Mass., or Dublin, New Hampshire, or 
in cities — she was so attractive, and her appeal 
was so pathetic, that people wept and opened 
their pocketbooks. In the big cities of Canada 



424 The Spell of Belgium 

she spoke in halls and churches, and was most 
enthusiastically received. From Syracuse she 
went to Chicago, also to St. Paul and Minne- 
apolis, starting committees where they did not 
already exist. At Chicago, Philadelphia and 
Boston she was especially successful in raising 
money. She was present at the sailing of sev- 
eral of the food ships, when hundreds of peo- 
ple crowded the docks, speeches were made, and 
patriotic music played. 

Three thousand people attended the mass 
meeting at Tremont Temple, in Boston, and over 
a thousand were turned away. She went to 
Providence and then to New Haven, where she 
was introduced by ex-President Taft. She was 
introduced in Boston by Bishop Lawrence, and 
in Baltimore by Cardinal Gibbons. A large 
meeting was held for her in Cooper Union Hall 
in New York. During her stay in Washing- 
ton she visited the Belgian Minister and his 
wife. Where committees were already started, 
she turned over the money she made to them, 
She sailed for Europe on the third of April, 
having raised about three hundred thousand 
dollars. 

Her last lecture before sailing contained 
these words: "We, the Allies, do not want 
peace. We appreciate the well meaning, high 




MADAME VAXDERVEI.-DE, 



A Last Word 425 

minded, noble Americans who are planning a 
conference at your national capital whereby the 
neutral nations shall decide on some peace plan 
to be submitted to the belligerent nations with- 
out armistice, but we cannot hear of peace at 
this or any other time until Prussian army 
caste has been wiped from the face of Europe. 
We want peace, but only peace with honour, and 
lasting peace. Peace now, before militarism 
has been conquered, will not be lasting peace. 
At the most, it would only be for five or six 
years, until Prussian militarism could recon- 
struct itself, and then the whole reign of terror 
for all Europe would begin again. We can 
scarcely understand an attitude that would even 
suggest peace at this time* Such an attitude is 
embarrassing." 

Just as Madame Vendervelde left the country, 
Madame Depage arrived to take her place. She 
had had experience in the Balkan War, when 
she accompanied her husband to Constantinople 
and acted as an auxiliary nurse. She directed 
the equipment of the hospital and within a very 
short time had turned the building into one of 
the best military hospitals in Europe. During 
the present war she has aided in the establish- 
ment of a large number of military hospitals, 
not only in Brussels but also in other Belgian 



426 The Spell of Belgium 

cities. When Brussels was taken the Germans 
seized the hospitals and devoted them to their 
own uses. The Governor-General of Belgium 
issued a decree breaking up the organization of 
the Belgian Ked Cross. All the funds were 
seized, and the archives were handed over to a 
German officer, who was appointed to carry on 
the work. It is said that forty thousand dol- 
lars' worth of Eed Cross supplies was taken 
over. As the National Belgian Headquarters 
of the Red Cross were in Brussels, the heads of 
the organization were temporarily cut off from 
the army. 

Dr. Depage stayed with the King while his 
wife remained in the capital until she received 
word from him that she was needed at the 
front. She made her way to Holland, then to 
England, and then to Calais. Her husband was 
at that time in charge of the Gendarme Ambu- 
lance. He gave her some orderlies and told her 
to proceed to La Panne and select a site for a 
military hospital. She found an empty hotel, 
and had things ready with three hundred beds 
when the Doctor arrived from Calais to take 
charge. Now there are a thousand beds, and 
he has a large corps of assistants. 

As Belgium was not receiving American Red 
Cross supplies, for the simple reason that it 



A Last Word 427 

seemed impossible to reach their headquarters, 
Madame Depage came to this country to solve 
the difficulty. She was here only a short time, 
but obtained a hundred thousand dollars by her 
lectures. Our American Bed Cross had pre- 
viously contributed thirty thousand dollars 
through the Belgian Eelief Commission, and 
gave Madame Depage thirteen thousand more, 
besides promising six surgeons and twenty-four 
nurses to Belgium, furnishing two field hospi- 
tals and paying for their maintenance for six 
months. The total gifts of the American Eed 
Cross organization have amounted to about 
$100,000. Fortunately the money that Madame 
Depage raised was deposited here, for this 
brave, executive woman went down on the 
Lusitania. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



Allen, Grant: Belgium: Its Cities 

Ames, F. T. : Between the Lines in Belgium 

Boulgee, D. C. : Belgium of the Belgians 

— Belgian Life in Town and Country 

Bumpus, T. F. : Cathedrals and Churches of Belgium 

Bithell, J. : Contemporaneous Belgian Poetry 

Bode, W. : Great Masters 

Claelin, W. H. : Holland and Belgium 

Conway, W. M. : Early Flemish Artists 

Crowe and Cavalcaselle : Flemish Painters 

Delepierre, Octave: History of Flemish Literature 

Davis, R. H.: With the Allies 

Edwards, G. W. : Old Flemish Towns 

Ensor, R. C. K.: Belgium 

Fromentin, Eugene: Les maitres d'autrefois 

Gilbert, Eugene: France et Belgique 

Griffis, W. E.: Belgium the Land of Art 

Holland, Clive: Belgians at Home 

Hunter, G. L. : Tapestries 

Huet, C. B. : Land of Rubens 

Hymans, Louis : Bruxelles a travers les ages 

Jourdain, M. : Old Lace 

Kauffman, R. W. : In a Moment of Time 

Mac Donnell, J. de C. : Belgium, Her Kings and People 

— King Leopold II 

— Albert, King of the Belgians 
Omond, G. W. T. : Belgium 
Poplimont — : Heraldry 

Potvin, Charles: Nos premiers siecles litt6raires 
Powell, E. A.: Fighting in Flanders 
429 



430 Bibliography 



Pamphlets : 

Washington and Columbia Printing Co.: Facts About Bel- 
gium 

Belgian Government: Diplomatic Correspondence respect- 
ing the War 

German Commanders in Belgium: Why Belgium Was Dev- 
astated 

Commission on International Law: Reports 
Rooses, Max: Art in Flanders 
Rea, Hope: Great Masters (Rubens) 
Rice, W. G. : Carillons of Belgium and Holland 
Southey, Robert: Netherlands in 1815 
Stevenson, R. L. : An Inland Voyage 
Scott, W. B.: Gems of Modern Painters 
Singleton, Esther: Art of the Belgian Galleries 
Sharp, William: La jeune Belgique 
Smith, E. Gilliat: Story of Brussels 
Sarolea, Dr. Charles: How Belgium Saved Europe 
Thompson — : The Belgian Renascence 
Valentiner, W. R. : The Art of the Low Countries 
Wauters, A. J.: La peinture flamande 
Zweig, Stefan: Emile Verhaeren 



INDEX 



Adelbert (Prince), 34 
Adoration of the Lamb, the, 

182, 184, 236 
Adoration of the Magi, 195, 

196 
Aerschot, 373, 393 
Africa, 113, 116 
Aisny, 393 

Aix-la-Chapelle, treaty of, 101 
Albert, Archduke, 99 
Alfred the Great, 70 
Algini, 307-313 
Alost, 97, 210 
Alva, Duke of, 96, 192 
American Club, 51 

Students' Club, 55-6 
Ancienne Cour, 94 
Andenne, 351, 352 
Angel's Mass, 30 
Angers, 162, 171 
Anseele, Edouard, 151 
Antwerp, 8, 37, 68, 94, 97, 98, 
99, 111, 124, 137, 138, 
162, 202, 230, 233-236, 
282-283, 331, 342, 366, 
371, 383, 384, 418, 423 
Academy, 204 
Cathedral, 147, 234, 262 
Museum, 189, 195 
Antwerp, Legends of, 255 

431 



Antigon, 255-262 

Yvon Bruggermans, 262- 

275 
Friigger the Miser, 275-303 
The Blacksmith of Ant- 
werp, 303-313 
The Milk Girl, 313-330 
Apocalypse (tapestries), 171 
Archdukes Albert and Isa- 
bella, 165, 194 
Ardennes, the, 331, 332, 341, 

344 
Arenberg, Due d', 34 
Duchesse d', 34 
(family), 34 
Arquenne, 333 
Arras, 162, 170 
Assembly of, 88 
Tapestries, 168, 169 
Artevelde, Jacob van (the 
Brewer of Ghent), 82, 
83, 238 
Philip van, 84 
Assche, Comte d', 20 
Palais d', 2, 7, 20 
(family), 389, 399 
Aubusson, 170 
Audennes, 374, 392 
Augustus, 66 
Austrian Succession, war of, 

101 
Aymon, sons of, 348 



432 



Index 



B 


"Boerenbonden," 135 
Boitsfort, 58 




Baldwin (Bras-de-fer) , 69, 74 


Boma, 118 




Second, 70 


Borinage, the, 140, 335 




King of Edessa, 73 


Bosel, 379 




Count of Hainault and 


Bouvignes, 353 




Flanders, 73 


"Brabangonne," the, 210, 


381 


Fifth, Count of Flanders, 


Brabant, 18, 58, 80, 84, 


87, 


75 


142 




Sixth, Count of Flanders, 


Governor of, 8 




76, 78 


Braekeleer, Henri de, 203 


Bataille, Nicolas, 171, 173 


Brant, Isabella, 194 




Bates, Mr. Lindon W., 412 


Braquenie, Brothers, 166 




Baudouin, Prince, 119 


Brederode, de, 95 




Bavaria, John of, 185 


Breuil, du, 173 




Bayard, 348-350 


Brieux, 378 




Rock of, 348 


Broqueville, Baron de, 137 


Beauvais, 170 


Bruges, 17, 18, 68, 70, 74 


, 75, 


Beeckmans (the), 389 


80, 81, 84, 90, 93, 98 


, 99, 


Beernaert, Minister of State, 


111, 162, 180, 185, 


187, 


35 


238-242 




Beers, van, 210 


Belfry of, 240 




Beethoven, 52 


Brussels, 2, 8, 9, 12, 16 


17, 


Beguinage 


85, 100, 119, 162, 


163, 


in Ghent, 146, 237 


164, 230, 331, 342, 


356, 


in Bruges, 238 


364-365, 378, 382, 


388, 


Belgica, 66, 67 


389, 416, 418 




Bel, Jean le, 209 


life in, 43-64 




Belceil, 332, 334-335 


Buelow, von, 368 




Berryer, M., 35 


Buisseret, Comte de, 2 




Beughems, de (the), 13, 389 


Caroline de, 7, 24 




Beuken, 372 


Burgundian Sacraments, 


159, 


Biefve, Edouard, 202 


189 




Black Prince, 83 


Burgundy, dukes of, 18, 89 


Blanc-Grin, 204 


(county of), 92, 99 




Blondel, 17 


(duchy of), 86, 92 




Bliicher, 104 






Bodel, Jean, 208 


C 




Boehn, von, 368 


Caesar, 65, 259 





Index 



433 



Calais, 83, 87, 88, 371, 380, 


Clementine, 109, 110 


426 


Clericals (political party), 


Calve, 53 


112, 127-130, 133-135, 


Canibre, Pare de la, 58, 59 


137 


Bois de la, 62 


Clovis, King of the Franks, 


Cassel, victory of, 79 


67, 68, 69 


Cats, le Vieux, 209 


Colbert, 171 


Caxton, William, 240 


Cologne, 17 


Cercle du Pare, 38 


Comans and Planche, 171, 173 


"Chambers of Ehetoric," 208 


Commission for Relief in Bel- 


"Chansons des Saxons," 208 


gium, the ( American ) , 


Charlemagne, 16, 68, 74, 243, 


412, 420 


341, 343, 348, 349, 350 


Congo State, the, 114-119 


Charleroi, 139, 342, 363, 374 


Museum, 51, 119 


Charles V, 18, 92, 93, 94, 159, 


Congress of Vienna, 103, 106 


209, 263 


Conjoux, 392, 393 


Charles the Rash, 91, 160, 


Conscience, Henri, 210-212 


170, 172, 187 


Conservatoire, the, 53 


Prince, of Lorraine, 101 


Constitution (Belgian), 107 


the Sixth (of France), 84 


Cortemarch, 396 


the Seventh (of France), 


Coster, Charles de, 210 


89 


Courouble, Leopold, 220 


Prince, of Hohenzollern, 


Courtrai, 68, 70, 80, 143, 247, 


120 


331 


the Bald, 69 


Creve-Coeur, 353 


Charles Theodore (of Ba- 


Cross, Descent from the, 195 


varia), 25 


Elevation of, 195 


Charlotte, Princess, 108 


Crown Prince (of Belgium), 


(Empress), 108 


123 


Chasseurs, 61 


Crown Prince (of Germany), 


Christianity, 58, 69 


30 


Church, the, 71, 79, 130, 132, 


(of Roumania), 30 


151 


Croy, Prince Henri de, 338, 


Ciergnon, 120, 346 


339 


Ciney, cow of, 351-353 


(family), 335, 336, 339 


Cinquantenaire, the, 61 


Crusades, 71, 74 


Palais du, 60 


D 


Museum, 119 


Clary, Comtesse, 24 


David, Abbe, 210 



434 



Index 



David and Goliath (tapes- 
tries), 176 

Davignon, Madame, 12 

Deg, van, 305-313 

Democrats ( political party ) , 
127 

Demolder, Eugene, 220 

Depage, Dr., 397, 426 
Madame, 425, 426, 427 

Derouette, Colonel, 3 

Dhanis, Baron, 115 

Diana (tapestries), 173-176 

Dieckmann, Major, 369 

Digue, the, 243 

Dinant, 65, 341, 346, 350, 366, 
374, 383, 392, 393 

Dixmude, 247, 367 

Donnan, Miss, 56 

Duffel, 422 

Dunkirk, 400, 401, 402 

Dyck, Anthony van, 199-201 



Edwards, George Wharton, 

241 
Egmont, Count, 34, 91, 95, 96, 

247 
Eilbert, Count, 346-347 
Elst, Baron von der, 57 
Emilie Louise, 108 
Emmich, von, 368 
Enghien, 162, 163, 332, 333 
Eugene, Prince, 100 
Eyck, Jan van, 183-186, 187, 
189, 190 
Hubert, 179, 180, 182, 183- 

186 
Margaret, 183 
Eycks, the, 179, 189, 191, 240 



Fancy Fair, the, 47 
Farnese, Alexander, Prince of 

Parma, 98 
Ferdinand and Isabella, 92 
Flamberge, 349 
Flanders, 13, 14, 18, 33, 67, 

73, 74, 75, 76 
Flanders, Count of, 69 
Robert, Count of, 73 
(Counts of), 352 
Flandre, Comtesse de, 10, 28, 
29, 30, 47, 340 
Comte de, 25 
Philip, 108, 119 
Flemings, 67, 126 
Foret, Comte Raymond de, 

333 
Fourment, Helena, 194 
Francis I, 93 
Franks, 66, 67, 68 

Salian, 66 
French, General, 410, 411 
Freya, cave of, 347 
Friigger, 275-303 
Furnes, 248 

Procession of Penance at, 
249-251 



Galliat, Louis, 202 

Galsworthy, John ( quoted ) , 
356 

Garde Civique, 29 

Gates of the Apostles (tapes- 
try), 169 

Gaul, 66, 67, 68 



Index 


435 


Gauls, the, 65, 66 


H 




Geographical Congress, 113 
Gerard, Baron, 76 
Geubles, Jacques, 174 


Haarlem, 96 

Hainault, 33, 79, 87, 141, 

331 
Hal, 332, 333 
Han, 345 

Grottes de, 345-346 


142, 


Ghent, 18, 68, 70, 74, 81, 84, 
90, 93, 97, 98, 139, 142, 
150, 236-238, 239, 393, 
394 




"Pacification of ," 

97 


Hall, Mr., 123 
Hapsburgs, the, 19 




Gilles, Dancing, 336-338 
Glesener, Edmond, 213 
Gobelins (Jean and Philip), 
167, 170, 171 


Havre, 137, 342, 371 

Havre, 336 

Hennebicq, 76 

Henry, Cardinal of Winches- 


Godfrey of Bouillon ("Advo- 
cate" of Jerusalem), 72, 
73 

Godfrey the Bearded, Count, 
17 

Golden Fleece, Order of, 90, 
91 185 


ter, 88 
Herzele, 247 
Hill, Mr. James J., 121 




Hoboken, 282 
Hochstetter, 284-303 




Hofstade, 366 
Holland, 12, 87, 98 




Goltz, Baron von der, 368 
Grammont, 76, 78 
Grand Council, 87 
Grande Harmonie, Soci6t6 de 
la, 147 


Holy Blood, chapel of, 239 
Hoorn, Count, 91, 95, 96 
Hoover, Mr., 412, 417 
Hotel de Ville (Brussels), 16, 
48, 49, 166 


Grande Place (Brussels), 48- 
49, 96, 100, 365 
(Ypres), 251 


Hougomont, 63, 104 
Houllos, 139 
Hubert, St., 58, 345 




Grant- Smith, 3 


I 




Grenadiers, 3 




Gretry, 52 


Inquisition, 18, 96, 236 




Groenendal, 58, 59 


International Association 


for 


Chateau, 59 


the Suppression of 


the 


Grunne, de, 339 


Slave Trade and 


the 


Gueux, the, £5 


Opening of Central 


Af- 


Guides Regiment, 4, 60, 61 


rica, 114 




Guy (of Anderlecht), 14, 15, 


Isabella, Duchess ( of 


Bur- 


16 


gundy), 89 





436 



Index 



Princess (of Portugal ) 3 


90, 


Laeken, 25, 30, 39, 40, 4., 


185 




42, 51, 112, 394 


Infanta, 99, 165 




La Haye Sainte, 63, 104 
Lalaing, Comte de, 380 


J 




Lalaing, Countess van, 193 
Lambeaux, Jef, 205 


Jacqueline of Bavaria, 86 


, 87 


Lambremont, Baron, 120 


Jallet, 352 




La Panne, 367, 391, 395, 397, 


Jenneval, 210 




400, 401, 402, 426 


Joanna, 92 




"La Princesse Maleine," 216 


Johanna, 84 




La Roches, 345 


John the First, 17 




Last Communion of St. Fran- 


the Fearless, 86 




cis, 198 


Don, of Austria, 97 




L'Echo Beige, 386 


Jordaens, Jacob, 165, 


191, 


Ledeganck, 210 


199, 200 




Legation, 2, 3, 20 


Josephine (Princess), 119 


Lemonnier, Camille, 213 


Joseph II, 101, 102 




Leopold I (Prince, of Saxe- 


Joyous Entry, the, 84, 


100, 


Coburg), 107, 108, 374 


110, 194 




Leopold II, King, 19, 25, 32, 


Judith, 69 




39, 42, 51, 85, 108-114, 


Jungbliith, General, 120 




242 


Jupille, 342, 343 




Prince, 395 

of Austria, 102 


K 




Le Pays Noir, 140 
Lerberghe, Charles van, 221, 


Karcher, Nicholas and Jean, 


222, 224 


173 




Le Roeulx, 339 


King Albert Hospital, 386 


Lesbroussart, 210 


King of the Belgians, 3, 5, 6, 


Leys, 202 


8, 10, 25, 26, 27, 30, 


41, 


Liberals (political party), 


42, 57, 61, 117-125, 


137, 


112, 127, 129, 132-134 


147, 371, 381, 384, 


395, 


Liege, 52, 69, 124, 136, 139, 


396, 400 




141-144, 331, 341, 342, 
343, 361-363, 371, 374, 


L 




377, 392 
Bishop of, 58, 70, 89 


La Belle Alliance, 63, 104 




Marshal of, 352 


Lac d' Amour, 238 




Lierre, 422 



Index 



437 



Ligne, Prince Charles de, 32, 
33, 332 
Princesse, 33, 34, 391, 392 
Prince George de, 388 
(family), 16, 31, 33, 332, 

334, 335 
Prince Edward, 391 
Ligny, 103 
Lille, 162 
Lirnburg, 84 

Loequenghieu, Chevalier de, 8 
Lombaertzyde, 248 
Lor and, M., 116, 117 
Lorinnes, Cure of, 393 
Lorraine ( Lotharingia ) , 74, 
91 
Count Lambert of, 16 
Duke Charles of, 16 
Prince Charles of, 101 
Loti, Pierre, 251 
Louis XIV, 34, 100 
Louis XI of France, 92 
Louise, 109 

Louvain, 18, 52, 84, 230-232, 
371, 372, 373, 374, 384, 
393, 423 
Counts of, 70 
Louvain, University of, 94, 
231, 373 
Hotel de Ville, 230, 232 
Cathedral, 370 
Lovenjoul, Vicomte de Spoel- 

berch, de, 220 
Low Countries, 51, 68, 92, 93, 

97 
Luetwitz, von, 369 
Luxembourg, 87, 341, 383 
Duke of, 29 
Counts of, 351, 352, 359 



M 



Maecht, Philip de, 173 

Maele, Louis de, 83, 84 

Maastricht, 97 

Maeterlinck, 152, 207, 213-: 
219, 224, 237 

Maison du Peuple, 152 

Maison du Koi, 46, 96 

Malines (Mechlin), 147, 195, 
196, 200, 232-233, 366, 
370, 371, 374, 422, 423 
Cathedral, 233 

Mannikin, the, 49 

Marburg, Mr., 20 

Margaret of Austria, 92, 159 
of Parma, 94-96 

Marie Elizabeth, Archduchess, 
100 

Marie Henriette, Archduchess, 
109 

Marie Jose, Princess, 25 

Marie - Louise - Alexan- 
drine-Caroline, 119 

Marie, Jean de, 89 

Marncourt, Renard de, 173 

Marriage of St. Catherine, 
186, 187 

Martel, Charles, 68 

Mary (of Burgundy), 92 

Matilda, 75 

Matsys, Quentin, 144, 191, 
( Blacksmith of Ant- 
werp), 303-313 

Maugis, 349 

Max, Burgomaster, 8, 9, 364 

Maximilian of Austria, 92 
Second, 99 



438 Index 


Maximilian of Austria (Em- 


Napoleon, 102-105, 147 


peror), 108 


Napoleon III, 108 


Melba, 53 


Nash, Miss Hildegarde, 55 


Melis, 13, 14 


Netherlands, 68, 70, 74, 75, 


Melusine, 333 


92, 94, 99, 170, 171 


Memling, Hans, 179, 186-189, 


Austrian, 100, 231 


190, 191, 240 


United, 106 


Menapians, 66 


Neuve Chapelle, 403 


Mercier, Cardinal, 370, 375 


Nibelungen Lied, 207 


Merode, Comte Jean de, 5 


Nieker, von, 369 


Comtesse, 31, 392 


Nieuport, 248, 367, 395 


(family), 389 


Nieuport-Bains, 248 


Meunier, Constantin, 205 


Nieuwenhoven, Martin van, 


Meuse (river), 331, 332, 349, 


187 


353, 361 


Noort, Adam van, 193 


Valley, 65, 346 


Normans, 69, 75 


Michael the Archangel, 16 


Notre Dame du Sablon, 158 


Middelkerke, 367 


Church of, 158 (Malines), 


Middlebourg, 162 


195, 196, 370 


Minister, American, 2, 8, 388, 




399 




Minister of Foreign Affairs, 


O 


11, 12 




Minister, Spanish, 8, 382 


CEuvre des Soldats Beiges, 


Miraculous Draught of Fishes, 


Franco-American, 13 


195, 196 


Ophem, 339 


Mockel, Albert, 223 


Orange, Prince of, 8 


Monnaie, Place de la, 50 


(William the Silent), 95, 


Mons, 140, 335-336, 364, 411, 


97, 98 


418 


Nassau, family of, 107 


Moor, Baron de, 4 


House of, 192 


Mortlake, 167, 170, 173 


Ostend, 137, 236, 242-244, 


"Musette de Portici," 107 


342, 367, 379, 390 


N 


Oudenarde, 162, 163, 164, 165 


Namur, 79, 331, 341, 342, 353- 


P 


354, 363, 374, 384 




Counts of, 70, 351, 352 


Pack, Governor, 37 



Index 



439 



Paele, Canon van de, 185, 


Q 


186 




Madonna of, 185-6 
Palais de Justice, 365 
Palais de la Nation, 50 
Pannemaker, Willem de, 172 
Papal Nuncio, 8, 10, 38 
Parnasse de la Jeune Bel- 


Quartier Leopold, 20, 50, 51 

Quatre Bras, 103, 104 

Queen, the (of the Belgians), 
6, 7, 10, 11, 25, 26, 27, 
41, 42, 47, 61, 122, 123, 
125, 147, 148, 381, 391, 


gique, la, 213 
Pendleton, Miss Charlotte, 


395, 400, 419 


168 




Penelope, 161 


R 


Pepin of Heristall, 68 


the Short, 342 




Perch, Baron de, 8 


Raes, Jean, 174 


Perwez, 340 


Red Cross, American, 400, 


Peter the Hermit, 72 


426, 427 


Philip of Alsace (Count of 


Renkin, M., 117 


Flanders), 73, 79, 208 


Requesens, 97 


the Bold, Duke of Bur- 


Revue de Belgique, 212 


gundy, 84, 86 


Rhine, 66, 67 


the Good, 16, 86, 87, 88, 


Richard, Earl of Warwick, 88 


89, 90, 91, 159, 183, 


Richilde, Countess of Hain- 


185, 187, 240 


ault and Namur, 79 


Second, of Spain, 91, 93, 94, 


Robert the Frisian, 79 


96, 97, 98, 99, 172, 209 


Rochefort, 345 


the Fair, 92, 159 


Rodenbach, Georges, 224 


Philip, Duke, of Saxe-Coburg, 


Roi, Jean Gregoire le, 214, 


109 


221 


Philippeville, 393 


Roland (bell), 93, 238 


Picardie, 346 


Rombeaux, Egide, 205 


Pirenne, Henri, 220 


Ronner, Madame, 204 


Plantvn-Moretus Museum, 234 


Roosbeke, battle of, 84 


Plantyn, Christopher, 234 


Rooses, Max, 163, 202, 205 


Pleiade, 213 


Roost, Jean, 173 


Poe, 242 


Rouart, 349 


Poplimont (quoted), 33 


Roubaix, Jean de, 185, 247 


Potvin, Charles, 207, 212 


Roulers, 244 


Prier, Toussaint. 163 


Convent at, 244-246 



440 



Index 



Rubens, Peter Paul, 99, 


191- 


St. Gudule, church of, 10, 29, 


199, 200 




30 


John, 192 




St. Hubert, church of, 344 


Rudolph, Crown Prince, 


of 


hermitage of, 354 


Austria, 109 




St. Ives, college of, 373 


Ruysbroeck, 209 




St. Jean, 62 

St. John's Hospital ( Bruges ) , 
186 


S 




St. Peter and St. Guy, church 
of, 16 


Sainte Barbe, College of, 


214, 


St. Peter, church of (Lou- 


224 




vain), 143, 373 


Saint- Vaast, monastery oi 


-, 89 


St. Quentin, 364 


"Salon Bleu," 26 




Stanley, 114 


Sambre (river), 332, 353, 


354 


States-General, 87, 94 


Saxe, Marshal, 19, 101 




Stephanie, 109, 110 


Saxon League, 67 




Stevens, 204 


Saxony, Anne of, 192 




Stoelkens, Beatrix, 158 


Schaffen, 372 




Storer, Mr. Bellamy, 20 


Scheldt, the, 13, 69, 74, 


235, 


Straten, Pierre van der, 399 


255, 331 






Scott, William B., 184 




T 


Seaman, Major, 121 






Sempst, 366 




Tamines, 374, 422 


Senne, the, 15, 17 




Teniers, David, 165 


Severin, Fernand, 222 




Terlinden, Lieutenant, 62 


Sluys, victory of, 83 




Termeire, 12 


Socialism, 127, 151 




Termonde, 236, 366, 393 


Socialists (political party), 


Theatre de la Monnaie, 106 


127, 129, 135, 137 




Third Estate, 87 


Soignes, Foret de, 57, 58, 


59, 


Thompson, 53-54 


340, 397 




Tirlemont, 375 


Somme, the, 69 




Tongres, Lucius de, 207 


Spa, 341, 343-344 




Tournai, 69, 162, 163, 374, 


Spaniards' Castle, 93 




379 


"Spanish Fury," 97 




Tremeloo, 372 


Spanish Netherlands, 33 




•'Triumphs and Types of the 


St. Andre, church of, 279 




Eucharist," 165 


St. Gery, church of, 16 




Troyes, Crestien de, 208 



Index 



441 



Truce of God, the, 79 
Tyndale, 232 

U 

United Belgian States, 102 

Ursel, Due d', 13, 57 
Comte Wolfgang d', 32 
Comtesse Wolfgang d', 32 
Duehesse, 13, 31, 32, 57 
Duchess Dowager, 13, 32 
family, 31, 32 
Palais, 32 

Ursula, St., 188-9 
Mother, 245 

Utrecht, Union of, 98 
peace of, 99 



Vanderkindere, 212 
Vandervelde, M., 115, 116, 
127, 137 

Madame, 95, 421, 423, 425 
Veen, Otto van, 193 
Vendome, Due de, 120 

Henriette, 120 
Verhaeren, Emile, 124, 210, 

213, 223-229, 362 
Verviers, 143, 384 
Vesalius, Andreas, 18 
Victor Napoleon, Prince, 109 
Vilain XIIII, Comte, 34, 35 
Villaloba, Marquis, 8 
Villeroi, Marshal, 19 
Vilvorde, 232 
Vise, 331, 360, 393, 422 
Volkson, Father von, 379 
Vondel, 209 



Vooruit, the, 151-2 
Vydts, Jodocus, 183, 184 



W 

Waal, 66 
Waelhem, 422 
Walker, Madame, 54 
Walloon (Provinces), 13, 67, 

139 
(individuals), 72 
(people), 98, 126, 331, 332 
Warlemont, Maurice, 213 
Waterloo, 59, 62-64, 103, 104, 

106 
Waulsort, 346, 347 
Wauters, 204 
Wavre, 340 
Waxweiler, M., 120 
Wellington (Duke of), 103, 

104 
Wenzel of Luxembourg, 84 
Werchter Wackerzeel, 372 
Westende, 367 
Weyden, Roger van der, 163, 

189, 190 
Whitlock, Mr. Brand, 8, 20, 

382, 412 
Wiart, M. Carton de, 35, 421, 

Madame, 369 
Wielt, 396 
Wiertz, 203 

Museum, 203, 212 
Willebroeck Canal, 8 
Willems, 210 
William the Conqueror, 75 

First, 106 
Woelmonts (the), 399 



442 



Ypres, 61, 70, 90, 91 
254, 367, 387 

Ysaye, 53-54 

Yser, the, 124, 247 
367, 380, 394 



Index 



, 210, 251- 



248, 249, 



Zealand, 87 

Zevecote, Jacques van, 209 
Zoellner, Miss, 56 
Zweig, Stefan, 224 



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